Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount

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COMMENTARY

ON THE

SERMON ON THE MOUNT.

BY
MARTIN LUTHER.

Translated by Charles A. Hay, D. D.

PHILADELPHIA :
LUTHERAN PUBLICATION SOCIETY.

Copyright, 1892,

BY

THE LUTHERAN PUBLICATION SOCIETY.

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

The forty-third volume of the Erlangen edition
of Luther's works contains his exposition of the
^'' Sermon on the Mount y Dr. Irmischer, the ed-
itor of this edition, prefaces the volume with these
remarks :

" During Bugenhagen's absence Luther preached
a I'ong while for him, regularly, on the fifth, sixth
and seventh chapters of Matthew, beginning Nov.
9, 1530. These sermons were then published, first
in 1532, at Wittenberg, under Joseph Klug, in
quarto ; in 1533 at Marburg, in octavo ; and in
1539, again in Wittenberg, in quarto, under Johann
Weiss. In 1533 they were also translated into
Latin by Vincent Obsopoeus."

In this Irmischer edition these sermons are
thrown into the form of a running commentary,
and as such they are now presented to the English
reading public by the Lutheran Publication So-
ciet5^

When requested by a committee of this Board to
translate this work, I called attention to the pecu-
liar roughness and even fierceness of Luther's way

(iii)

iv translator's preface.

of expressing hiinself and of denouncing the min-
ions of the papacy. But the committee judged it
best that Luther should be allowed to speak for
himself, presuming that intelligent English readers
will make due allowance for the style of speech
common in that day, and for the peculiarly aggra-
vating circumstances under which that noble man
of God was called to labor. An admirable vindi-
cation of these "Asperities" appeared in the ninth
volume of our excellent Quarterly Review, in
1881 ; it is from the pen of Rev. Dr. Morris, one
of Luther's most enthusiastic admirers.

Charles A. Hay.
Gettysburg^ Feb. 11^ i8g2.

LUTHER'S PREFACE.

I AM truly glad that my exposition of the three
chapters of St. Matthew, which St. Augustine
calls the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, are about to
be published, hoping that by the grace of God it
may help to preserve and maintain the true, sure
and Christian understanding of this teaching of
Christ, because these sayings and texts are so very
common and so often used throughout all Christen-
dom. For I do not doubt that I have herein pre-
sented to my friends, and all others who care for
these things, the true, pure Christian meaning of
the same.

And it is hard to understand how the very devil
himself has by his apostles so cunningly twisted
and perverted especially the fifth chapter, as to
make it teach the very opposite of what it means.
And though Christ purposely intended thereby to
antagonize all false teaching, and to exhibit the
true meaning of God's commands, as he expressly
says: "I am not come to destroy the law;" and takes -^
it up piece by piece to make it perfectly clear ; yet

(v)

VI LUTHER'S PREFACE.

the infernal Satan has not found a single text in
the Scriptures which he has more shamefully per-
verted, and made more error and false doctrine out
of, than just this one which was by Christ himself
ordered and appointed to neutralize false doctrine.
This we may call a masterpiece of the devil.

First of all there have fallen upon this chapter
the vulgar hogs and asses, jurists and sophists, the
right hand of the pope and his Mamelukes. They
have sucked this poison out of this beautiful rose,
and scattered it everywhere ; they have covered
up Christ with it and have exalted and main-
tained the antichrist, namely, that Christ here does
not wis"h everything which he teaches in the fifth
chapter to be regarded by his Christians as com-
manded and to be observed by them ; but that
much of it was given merely as advice to such
as wish to become perfect, and any who wish
may observe these parts ; despite the fact that
Christ there threatens wrathfuUy : — no one shall
enter heaven who sets aside one of the least of
these commands, — and he calls them in plain words
com^nands.

Thus they have invented twelve gospel counsels
[consilia evangelii], twelve items of good counsel
in the gospel, which one may heed if he yvants to
be something over and above other Christians
(higher and more perfect); they have thus made
not only Christian salvation, yes even perfection

LUTHER'S PREFACE. vil

also, dependent aside from faith upon works, but
they have 'made these same works voluntary.
That is, as I understand it, to forbid really and
truly good works, which is just what these nasty
revilers accuse us of doing. For they cannot
deny this, and no covering and smoothing over
will help them as long as this fifth chapter of
Matthew abides. For their books and glosses are
at hand, along with their former and present daily
impenitent life that they lead in accordance with
this their teaching. And the teaching of those
twelve "evangelical counsels" is very common
among them, viz., not to requi^-e wrong doing, not
to take vengeance, to offer the other cheek, not to
resist evil, to give the cloak along with the coat,
to go two miles for one, to give to every one that
asks, to lend to him who borrows, to pray for
persecutors, to love enemies, to do good to them
that hate, etc., as Christ here teaches. All this
(they disgustingly say) is not commanded, and the
monks at Paris honestly assign their reasons, saying,
this Christian teaching would be much too hard if
it were loaded with such commands as these, etc.
This is the way the jurists and sophists have
hitherto ruled and taught the church, so that
Christ with his teaching and interpretation, has
had to be their fool and juggler; and they still
show no signs of repentance for this, but are eager
to defend it, and to put forward again their cursed

viii LUTHER'S PREFACE.

shabby canons, and to crown again their cunning
pope. God grant, however, that I may live and
may have to give clasps and jewels for this crown;
then he, God willing, shall be called rightly
crowned.

Therefore, dear brother, if you please, and have
nothing better, let this my preaching serve you, in
the first place, against our squires, the jurists and
sophists, I mean especially the canonists, whom
they themselves indeed call asses, and such they
really are, so that you may keep the teaching of
Christ for yourself pure in this place of Matthew,
instead of their ass's cunning and devil's dunof.

In the second place also against the new jurists
and sophists, namely, the factious spirits and Ana-
baptists, who in their crazy fashion are making
new trouble out of this fifth chapter. And just as
the others go too much to the left in holding noth-
ing at all of this teaching of Christ, but have con-
demned and obliterated it, so do these lean too
much to the right, and teach that one should have
nothing of his own, should not swear, should not
act as ruler or judge, should not protect or defend,
should forsake wife and child, and ifiuch of such
miserable stuff.

So completely does the devil mix things up on
both sides, that they know no difference between an
earthly and a heavenly kingdom, much less what
is to be taught and to be done differently in each

LUTHER'S -PRUFAt-E. , ix

kingdom; but we, God be thanked, can boast that
we in these sermons have clearly and diligently
shown and exhibited it, so that whoever hereafter
errs, or will err, we are freed from all responsibility
on his account, having faithfully presented our
opinion for the benefit of all. Let their blood be
upon their own head; our reward for this we await,
namely, ingratitude, hatred, and all sorts of hos-
tility, and we say deo gr alias.

Since we then learn and know by such abomin-
able examples, of both papistic and factious jurists,
what the devil is aiming at, and especially how he
seeks to pervert this fifth chapter of St. Matthew
and thereby to exterminate the pure Christian
doctrine, every preacher or rector is entreated and
exhorted to watch faithfully and diligently against
it in the little charge committed to him, and help
to preserve the true interpretation of this text.
For, as long as the devil lives and the world abides,
he will not cease to attack this chapter. For his
object is thereby to entirely suppress good works,
as has been done in the papacy; or to instigate
false good works and a feigned holiness, as he has
now begun to do through the new monks and the
factious spirits.

And even if both the popish and the mobocratic
jurists and the monks were to perish, he would
still find or raise up others. For he must have
such followers, and his kinsfdom has been governed

X LlrtTHER'S PREFACE.

by monks ever since the world began. Although
they have not been called monks, yet their doctrine
and life have been monkish, that is, they have been
other than and peculiar or better than what God
has commanded; as among the people of Israel
were the Baalites, the idolatrous priests (camarim)
and such like, and among the heathen the castrated
priests (Galli) and the vestal virgins.

Therefore we can never be safe against him.
For from this fifth chapter have come the pope's
monks, who claim to be a perfect class, in advance
of other Christians, basing their claim upon this
chapter; and yet we have shown that they are full
of avarice, of arrogance, and of late full of all sorts
of devils. Christ, our dear Lord and Master, who
has opened up to us the true meaning, desires to
give it additional force for us, and besides to help
us live and act accordingly. To whom be grate-
ful praise, together with the Father and the Holy
Spirit forever, Amen.

CONTENTS.

The Fifth Chapter of St. Matthew-

Verses i and 2

3

4
5
6

7
8

9

10
II
12
13

13
18

31

40
47
53

58
70

79

88

90

106

14 aud 15 no

16

17 •

18

19
20
21
22

116
121
126
127
131
133
139

23 and 24 142

25 and 26 147

27 to 30 150

31 and 32 165

33 to 37 , .... 176

38 to 41 186

(xi)

Xll

CONTENTS.

Verses 42 204

" 43 to 48 209

The Sixth Chapter of St. Matthew —

Verses i to 4 228

.5 and 6 240

7 to 13 247

14 and 15 258

16 to 18 269

19 to 21 287

22 and 23 305

24 321

25 332

26 and 27 338

28 to 30 343

31 and 32 346

33 348

34 358

The Seventh Chapter ok St. Matthew —

Verses i and 2 362

3 to 5 377

6 384

7 to II 393

12 405

13 and 14 415

15 .427

16 to 20 447

21 462

22 and 23 465

24 to 27 483

28 and 29 489

COMMENTARY

ON THE

SERMON ON THE MOUNT.

THE FIFTH CHAPTER OF ST. MATTHEW.

V. I, 2. And seeing the multitudes, he went up i?tto a tnoun-
tain : and when he was set, his disciples came tmto him : and
he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying :

Here the evangelist with a formal stately pre-
face declares how Christ disposed himself for the
sermon he was about to deliver ; that he went upon
a mountain, and sat down, and opened his mouth ;
so that we see he was in earnest. These are the
three things, it is commonly said, that mark a good
preacher ; first, that he take his place ; secondly,
that he open his mouth and say something ; thirdly,
that he know when to stop.

To take his place, that means that he assume a
position as a master or preacher, who can and ought
to do it, as one called for this purpose and not com-
ing of his own accord, but to whom it is a matter

(13)

14 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

of duty and obedience; so that he may say: "I
come, not hurried hither by my own purpose and
preference, but I must do it, by virtue of my of-
fice.

This is said as against those who have hereto-
fore been causing us so much vexation and tribu-
lation, and indeed are still doing it, namely the
factious spirits and fanatics, that are running up
and down through the country, poisoning the peo-
ple, before the pastors or those in office and au-
thority find it out, and thus befoul one family after
another until they have poisoned a whole city, and
from the city a whole country. To guard against
such sneaking renegades one ought not to allow
any one to preach who has not been duly and
officially appointed ; also no one should venture,
though he should be a preacher, if he hears a lying
preacher in a popish or other church, who is mis-
leading the people, to preach against him ; nor
should any one go about into the houses and get
up private preachings, but he should remain at
home and mind his own official business, or keep
silent, if he neither will or can publicly take his
place in the pulpit.

For God does not want us to go wandering about
with his word, as though we were impelled by the
Holy Spirit and had to preach, and thus were
seeking preaching places and corners, houses or
pulpits, where we are not officially called. For

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. I5

even St. Paul himself, though called as an apostle
by God, did not want to preach in those places
where the other apostles had preached before.
Therefore we are here told that Christ boldly and
publicly goes up upon the mountain, when he be-
gins his official ministry, and soon afterwards says
to his disciples: "Ye are the light of the world;"
and: "Neither do men light a candle and put it
under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth
light to all that are in the house." For the office
of the ministry and the word of God are hence to
shine as the sun, and not go sneaking and plot-
ting in the dark, as in the play of blind-man's
buff; but all must be done in broad daylight, that
it may be clearly seen that both preacher and
hearer are sure of this, that the teaching is rightly
done, and that the office has been rightly con-
ferred, so that there is no need for concealment.
Do thou likewise. If you are in office, and are
commissioned to preach, take your place openly
and fear nobody, that you may glory with Christ:
" I spake openly to the world, * * in secret have I
said nothing." John xviii. 20.

But 3-ou say, "How? Is no one then to teach
anything except in public? Or is the head of a
family not to teach his servants in his house, or to
have a scholar or some one about him who recites
to him?" Answer: Certainly, that is all right,
and all just in place. For every head of a family

l6 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

is in duty bound to teach his children and servants,
or to have them taught. For he is in his house as
a pastor or bishop over his household, and he is
commanded to take heed what they learn, and he
is responsible for them. But it is all wrong for
you to do this away from your own house, and to
force yourself into other houses or to neighbors,
and you should not allow any such sneak to come
to you and to carry on special preaching in your
house for which he has no authorization. But if
any one comes into a house or city let him be
asked for the evidence that he is known, or let him
show by letter and seal that he has been duly au-
thorized. For one must not trust all the strag-
glers that boast of having the Holy Spirit, and in-
sinuate themselves thereby here and there into the
homes. In short, it means that the gospel, or the
preaching of it, should not be heard in a corner,
but up upon a mountain, and openly in the free
daylight. That is one thing that Matthew wants
to show here.

The next thing is that he opens his mouth.
That belongs (as above said) also to a preacher,
that he do not keep his mouth shut, and not only
publicly perform his official duty so that every one
must keep silence and let him take his proper
place as one who is divinely authorized and com-
manded, but also that he briskly and confidently
open his mouth, that is, to preach the truth and

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 1 7

what has been coimnitted to hiin; that he be not
silent or merely mumble, but bear witness, fearless
and unterrified, and speak the truth out frankly,
without regarding or sparing any one, no matter
who or what is struck by it.

For that hinders a preacher very much if he
looks about him and concerns himself as to what
the people do or do not like to hear, or what might
occasion for him disfavor, harm or danger; but as
he stands high up, upon a mountain, in a public
place, and looks freely all around him, so he is also
to speak freely and fear nobody, although he sees
many sorts of people, and to hold no leaf before his
mouth, nor to regard either gracious or wrathful
lords and squires, either money, riches, honor,
power, or disgrace, poverty or injury, and not to
think of anything further than that he may speak
what his office requires, even that for which he
stands where he does.

For Christ did not institute and appoint the
office of the ministry that it might serve to gain
money, possession, favor, honor, friendship, or that
one may seek his own advantage through it, but
that one should openly, freely proclaim the truth,
rebuke evil, and publish what belongs to the ad-
vantage, safety and salvation of souls. For the
word of God is not here for the purpose of teaching
how a maid or man servant is to work in Ihe house
and earn his or her bread, or how a 'burgomaster is

2

l8 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

to rule, a fanner to plough or make hay. In short,
it neither gives nor shows temporal good things by
which one maintains this life, for reason has al-
ready taught all this to every one; but its purpose
is to teach how we are to attain to tJiat life, and it
teaches thee to use the present life, and to nourish
the belly here as long as it lasts; yet, so that thou
mayest know where thou art to abide and live
when this must come to an end.

If now the time comes for preaching of another
life that we are to be concerned about, and for the
sake of which we are not to regard this one as if
we wanted to remain here forever, then contention
and strife begin, so that the world will not endure
it. If then a preacher cares more for his belly and
worldly living, he does not do his duty; he stands
up indeed and babbles in the pulpit, but he does
not preach the truth, does not really open his
mouth; if there seems to be trouble ahead he keeps
quiet and avoids hitting anybody. Observe, this is
why Matthew prefaces his account with the state-
ment that Christ, as a true preacher, ascends the
mountain and cheerfully opens his mouth, teaches
the truth, and rebukes both false teaching and liv-
ing, as we shall hear in what follows.

V. 3. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdon
of heaven.

{ This is a delightful, sweet and genial beginning

SERMON ON THE MOUNT.

A

of his sermon. For he does not come, like '. uses
or a teacher of law, with alarming and threatening
demands; but in the most friendly manner, with
enticements and allurements and pleasant promises.
And indeed, if it had not been thus recorded, and
if the first uttered precious words of the Lord
Christ had not been given to us all, an over-curious
spirit would tempt and impel everybody to run
after them even to Jerusalem, yes, to the end of the
world, if one might hear but a word of it all.
Then thf re would be plenty of money forthcoming
to build a good road, and every one would boast-
ingly glory how he had heard or read the very
words that the Lord Christ had spoken. O what a
wonderfully happy man would he be held to be
who should succeed in this! That is just the way
it surely would be if we had none of our Saviour's
words written, although much might have been
written by others; and every one would say: Yes,
I hear indeed what St. Paul and his other apostles
have taught, but I would much rather hear what
he himself said and preached. But now that it is
so common, that every one has it written in a book,
and can read it daily, nobody regards it as some-
thing special and precious. Yes, we grow tired of
them and neglect them, just as if not the high
Majesty of heaven, but some cobbler, had uttered
them. Therefore we are duly punished for our
ingratitude and contemptuous treatment of these

LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

woi Is by getting little enough from them, and
never feeling or tasting what a treasure, force and
power there is in the words of Christ. ', But he who
has grace only to recognize them as the words of
God and not of man, will surely reg^ard them as
higher and more precious, and never grow tired or
weary of them.

Kindly and sweet as this sermon is for Christians,
who are our Lord's disciples, just so vexatious and
intolerable is it for the Jews and their great saints.
For he hits them a hard blow in the v -ry begin-
ning with these words, rejects and conde nns their
doctrine and preaches the direct contrary ; yes, he
denounces woe against their way of living and
teaching, as is shown in the sixth chapter o^ Luke.
For the substance of their teaching was this : If it
goes well with a man here upon earth, he is happy
and well off; that was all they aimed at, that God
should give them enough upon earth, if they were
pious and served him ; as David says of them in
Psalm cxliv : "Our garners are full, affording all
manner of store ; our sheep bring forth thousands
and ten thousands in our streets ; our oxen are
strong to labor ; there is no breaking in or going
out; there is no complaining in our streets."
These they call happy people, etc.

Against all this Christ opens his mouth and says
there is something else needed than having enough
here upon earth ; as if to say : You dear disciples.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 21

if you come to preach among the people, you will
find that they all teach and believe thus : He who
is rich, powerful, etc., is altogether happy; and
again, he who is poor and miserable is rejected and
condemned before God. For the Jews were firmly
fixed in this belief: if it went well with a man,
that was a proof that God was gracious to him ;
and the reverse. This is explained by the fact that
they had many and great promises from God of
temporal and bodily good things that he would be-
stow UDon the pious. They relied upon these, and
supposed that if they had this they were well off.
This is the theory that underlies the book of Job.
For in regard to this his friends dispute with and
contend against him, and insist strongly upon it
that he must have knowingly committed some
great crime against God, that he was so severely
punished. Therefore he ought to confess it, be ,
converted and become pious, then God would take
away the punishment again from him, etc.

Therefore it was needful that his sermon should
begin with overturning this false notion and tear-
ing it out of their hearts, as one of the greatest
hindrances to faith, that strengthens the real idol
mammon in the heart. For nothing else could
follow this teaching than that the people would
become avaricious, and every one would care only
for having plenty and a good time, without want
and discomfort ; and every one would have to in-

22 Luther's commentary on the

fer : If he is happy who succeeds and has plenty, .
must see to it that I am not left in the lurch.

This is still to-day the common belief of the
world, especially of the Turks, who completely and
thoroughly rely upon it, and thence conclude that
it would not be possible that they should have so
much success and victory if they were not the peo-
ple of God and he were not gracious towards them
above all others. Among ourselves also the whole
papacy believes the same thing, and their teaching
and life are based upon the fact that they only have
enough and besides have secured for themselves all
manner of worldly property ; as everybody can see.
In short, this is the greatest and most widely dif-
fused belief or religion upon earth, whereupon all
men of mere flesh and blood rely, and they cannot
count anything else as happiness.

Therefore he here preaches an altogether differ-
ent new sermon for Christians, viz. that if it does
not go well with them, if they suffer poverty and
have to do without riches, power, honor and a good
time, they are still to be happy and not to have a
temporal, but a different, an eternal reward; that
they have enough in the kingdom of heaven.

Do you now say: How, must Christians then all
be poor, and dare no one have money, property,
honor, power, etc.? Or, what are the rich, as
princes, lords, kings, to do? Must they give up
all their property, honor, etc., or buy the kingdom

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 23

of Iieaven from the poor, as some have taught?
No; it is not said that we are to buy from the poor,
but we are to be ourselves poor and be found
among those poor, if we are to have the kingdom
of heaven. For it is said plainly and bluntly:
Blessed are the poor; and yet there is another little
word along with that, viz. spiritually poor, so that
nothing is accomplished by any one's being bodily
poor, and having no money and property. For,
outwardly to have money, property and people, is
not of itself wrong, but it is God's gift and arrange-
ment. No one is blessed, therefore, because he is "
a beggar and has nowhere anything of his own; ,
but the expression is, spiritually poor. For I said \
already in the beginning that Christ is here not at |
all treating of secular government and order, but ii
is speaking only of what is spiritual — how one /
aside from and over and above that which is out- j
ward is to live before God.

It belongs to secular government that one should
have money, property, honor,- power, land and
people, and without these it could not exist, j
Therefore a lord or prince must and cannot be /
poor; for he must have all sorts of possessions \
suited to his office and rank. Therefore it is not /
meant that one must be poor and have nothing at /
all of his own. For the world could not exist in ,
such a way that we should all be beggars and have \
nothing. For no head of a family could maintain /

24 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY OX THE

his family and servants, if he himself had nothing
at all. In short, to be bodily poor decides nothing.
For we find many a beggar who gets bread at our
door more proud and evil-disposed than any rich
man, and many a miserly farmer with whom it is
harder to get along than with any lord or prince.

Therefore be bodily and outwardly poor or rich,
as may be your lot, God does not ask about that ;

'■ and he knows that every one must be before God,
that is spiritually and in his heart, poor; that is,
not to place his confidence, comfort and assurance

' in temporal possessions, nor fix his heart upon

' them and make mammon his idol. David was an
excellent king and had indeed his purse and his
chest full of money, his barns full of grain, the
country full of all sorts of goods and stores ; yet
along with this he had to be spiritually a poor
beggar, as he sings a.bout himself: "lam poor,
and a stranger in the land, as all my fathers were."
Notice, the king who sits in the midst of such
.possessions, a lord over land and people, dare not
call himself anything else than a stranger or a pil-
grim who goes upon the highway and has no place
where he can abide. That means a heart that
does not cling to property and riches ; but, al-
though it has, yet it is as though it had not, as
St. Paul boasts of the Corinthians, 2 Cor. vi. 10 :

) "As poor, yet making many rich ; as having noth-
ing, and yet possessing all things."

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 25

The meaning of all that has been said is that
one is to use all temporal good and bodily necessi-
ties, whilst he lives here, not otherwise than as a
stranger in a strange place, where he spends the
night and leaves in the morning. He needs no
more than food and lodging, and dare not say :
" This is mine, here will I stay ;" nor dare he take
possession of the property as tho' of right it be-
longed to him ; else he would soon hear the host
say to him: "Friend, do you not know that you
are a stranger guest here ? Go your way, where/
you belong." Just so here ; that you have worldly,
goods, that is the gift of God to you for this life,
and he allows you indeed to make use of it and to
fill with it the worm-bag (Madensack) that you
wear about your neck ; but not that you fix and
hang your heart upon it as though you were to
live forever ; but you are to be always going farther
and thinking about another higher and better I
treasure that is your own and is to endure forever.^y

This is roughly said for the common man, that
one may learn to understand (speaking according
to the Scriptures) what it means to be spiritually
poor or poor before God, not to reckon outwardly
as to money and property, or as to want or super-
fluity, since we see (as above said) that the poorest
and most miserable beggars are the worst and most
desperate scoundrels, and dare to commit all sorts
of knavery and evil tricks, which decent, honest

26 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

people, rich citizens or lords and princes, are not
guilty of ; on the other hand also, many saintly
people that have had plenty of money, honor, land
and people, and yet with so much property have
been poor ; but we must reckon according to the
heart, that it must not be much concerned whether
it has anything or nothing, much or little, and al-
wa):Sv^_treat what it has as though one d[d not
have it, and had to be ready at any time to lose it,
keeping the heart always fixed upon the kingdom
lof heaven.

, i Again, he is called rich according to the Scrip-
tures who, although not having any worldly pos-
sessions, still scrambles and scratches after them,
so that he never can get enough. These are the
very ones whom the gospel calls rich bellies, who
amid great possessions have the very least, and are
never satisfied with that which God gives them.
For it looks into the heart which is sticking full of
money and worldly goods, and judges accordingh',
although there is nothing in the purse or money
box. Again it judges him poor in heart, though
he has chest, house and hearth full. Thus
Christian faith moves straight forward; it regards
neither poverty nor riches; it asks only how the
heart stands. If there be an avaricious belly there,
the man is said to be spiritually rich; and again, he
is spiritually poor who does not cling to such
things and can empty his heart of them, as Christ

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 27

elsewhere says: "He who forsakes houses, lands,
children, wife, etc., he shall have a hundred fold
again, and besides eternal life," that he may bear
away their hearts from earthly good, so that they
do not regard it as their treasure, and that he may
comfort his own, who have to forsake it, that they
shall receive much more and better, even in this
life, than what they relinquish.

Not that we are to run away from propertyT',
home, wife and child, and wander about the coun-i
try burdening other people, as the Anabaptist crowd
does, that accuse us of not preaching the gospel
aright because we keep our home and stay by wife.,
and child. No, such crazy saints he does not want; J
but the true meaning is: Let a man be able in;
heart to leave his earthly home, his wife and child,
though staying in the midst of them, nourishing
himself along with them and serving them through
love, as God has commanded, and yet able, if need
be, to give them up at any time for God's sake.
If thou art thus disposed, thou hast forsaken all
things in such a way that thy heart is not tjk:eii
captive, but remains pure from avarice and from
clinging to other things for comfort and confi-
dence. A rich man may properly be called spirit-
ally poor, and need not therefore throw away his
earthly possessions, except when he must needs
forsake them; then let him do it in God's name,
not for the reason that he would rather be away

28 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

from wife, child and home, but would rather keep
them as long as God grants it and is served by his
so doing, and yet willing if he wishes to take them
from him again. So you see what it means to be
spiritually and before God poor, or spiritually to
have nothing and forsake all.

Now look also at the promise that Christ adds,
and says: " /^<?r of such is the kingdom of heaven.''''
This is indeed a great, excellent, glorious promise,
that we are to have a beautiful, glorious, great,
eternal possession in heaven, since we are here
gladly poor and regardless of earthly good. And
as thou here givest up a very small matter that
thou wouldst still gladly use as long and as much
as thou canst have it, thou shalt instead thereof at-
tain a crown, that thou mayest be a citizen and a
lord in heaven. This ought to influence us, if we
wanted to be Christians, and if we held his words
to be true. But no one cares who it is that says
this, and still less what he says; they let it pass
through their ears in such a way that no one con-
cerns himself about it any more nor lays it to heart.

But he shows with these words that no one un-
derstands this unless he is already a true Christian.
For this trait and all the rest that follow are simply
fruits of faith which the Holy Spirit himself must
work in the heart. Where now faith is not, there
the kingdom of heaven also will be wanting, nor
will spiritual poverty, meekness, etc., follow, but

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 29

only sordid raking and scraping, quarreling and
noisily contending for worldly goods. Therefore
all pains are lost upon such worldly hearts, so that
they never learn or know what spiritual poverty is,
nor do they believe or care for what he says and
promises about the kingdom of heaven ; although
for their sake he so orders and ordains it that he
who will not be spiritually poor in God's name,
and for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, must
still be poor in the devil's name and get no thanks
for it. For God has so hung the greedy to their
belly that they are never satiated with their greed-
ily gained good, nor can they ever be happy. For
squire greediness is such a merry guest, who never
lets any one rest ; he seeks, pushes and hunts with-
out ceasing, so that he dare not enjoy his dear
treasure for an hour; as Solomon the preacher too
wonders and says: "A man to whom God hath
given riches, wealth and honor, so that he wanteth
nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet
God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a
stranger eateth it. This is vanity, and it is an evil
disease." He must always be afraid and anxiously
concerned how he may keep what he has, and add
to it, that it perish not, or be diminished, and is so
completely tied up that he dare not cheerfully spend
a penny. But if there were a heart that could be
content and satisfied, it would have rest and the
kingdom of heaven besides ; otherwise along with

30 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

o^reat possessions, or indeed with its greediness, it
must have purgatory here and there hellish fire be-
sides, and as they say : Travel here with a barrow
and there with a wheel ; that is, have here trouble
and anxiety and there bitter grief.

Notice, God always overrules it so that his word
must remain true, and no one be saved or satisfied
except Christians ; and the rest, although they have
everything, yet they are none the better off — indeed
are not as well off, and must still be poor beggars,
as far as the heart is concerned ; only that the
former are willingly poor and are looking forward
' to an imperishable eternal possession, that is to the
kingdom of heaven, and are blessed children of
God ; but the latter are greedy for worldly good
and still do not get what they want, and must be-
sides be all the time martyrs of the devil. And
there is, in short, no difference between a beggar
before the door, and such a wretched greedy-gut,
except that the one has nothing and can be put off
with a crust of bread, whilst the other, the more
he has the harder he is to fill, even though he
should get all the world's money and goods in a
heap.

Therefore this sermon, as I said, is of no account
for the world, and answers for it no good purpose ;
for it insists upon being sure of its case, and will
not take anything upon faith, but must see it and
handle it, and says, it is better to have a sparrow

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 3 1

ill your hand than to be gaping at a crane in the
air. Therefore Clirist lets them go, does not want
to force anybody or drag him to him by the hair;
but he gives his kind counsel to all who are willing
to be advised, and holds out before us the most
precious promise. If thou wilt, thou hast here
peace and rest in heart, and there forever what thy
heart shall desire. If thou wilt not, then go along
and have rather here and there all manner of mis-
ery and misfortune. For we see and know that all
depends upon being satisfied and not clinging to
worldly good ; as many a one is whose heart God
can fill, though he has only a bit of bread, so that
he is cheerful and better contented than any prince
or king. In short, he is a rich lord and emperor ;
need have no care, trouble or sorrow.

That is the first part of this sermon: He who
wants to have enough here and there, let him take i
heed that he be not greedy and avaricious, but ac- /
cept and use what God gives, and earn his daily \
bread in faith, then he will have here his paradise /
and even the kingdom of heaven, as Paul says, i
Tim. iv. 8, "Godliness is profitable unto all things,
having promise of the life that now is and of that
which is to come."

V. 4. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.

As he began this sermon against the teaching
and faith of the Jews (and indeed not of them alone,

32 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

but of the whole world, even where it is at its best,
which clings to the notion that it is well off if it
only has possessions, honor, and its mammon, and
it serves God only for this end), he now continues
and shows the folly of what they regarded as the
best, most blessed life upon earth, viz., having
good, quiet days and suffering no discomfort, as
some are described in the seventy-third Psalm:
"They are not in trouble as other men, neither are
they plagued like other men." For that is. the
chief thing that men desire, that they may have
joy and pleasure and have no trouble. Now Christ
turns the leaf over, states the exact opposite, and
calls those blessed that have sadness and suffering,
and so throughout, all these statements are made in
direct opposition to the world's way of thinking,
as it would like to have it. For it does not want
to suffer hunger, trouble, disgrace, contempt, injust-
ice and violence, and those who can be free from
all this it counts blessed.

So that he means here to say that there must be
another life than the one they seek and care for,
and that a Christian must see to it that he is a suf-
■ fererand sorrow-bearer in this life. He who will
not do this may indeed have a good time here, and
live according to all his heart's desire, but he will
have to suffer forever hereafter, as Luke says,
vi. 25, "Woe unto you that laugh now! For ye
shall mourn and weep." So it went with the rich

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 33

man, Lk. xvi., who lived sumptuously and joyfully
every day, clothed in purple and fine linen, and
thought he was a great saint and well off before
God because he had given him so much that was
good, though he at the same time let poor Lazarus
lie daily before his door full of sores, in hunger and
distress and great misery. But what kind of a
judgment did he hear at last when he was lying in
hell? "Remember thou in thy lifetime didst re-
ceive thy good things and Lazarus his evil things,
therefore thou art now tormented and he is com-
forted, ' ' etc. See, that is exactly our text : ' ' Blessed
are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted;"
and again, as much as to say: Those who here
seek and have nothing but joy and pleasure shall
weep and howl forever.

Do you ask again: What then are we to do?
Are those all to be damned that laugh, sing, dance,
dress well, eat and drink? We surely read about
kings and holy people that were cheerful and lived
well. And especially Paul is a wonderful saint,
who insists upon it that we be always cheerful,
Phil. iv. 4, and says, Rom, xii, 15, "Rejoice with
them that do rejoice, ' ' and again : ' 'Weep with those
that weep." Observe, that seems inconsistent, to
rejoice evermore and yet weep and mourn with
others. Answer: Just as I said before, that to have
riches is no sin, nor is it forbidden; just so to be
cheerful, to eat and drink well, is no sin, nor is it
3

34 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

condemnatory; in like manner it is not wrong to
have honor and a good name; and yet I am to be
blessed if I do not have this, or can do without it,
and instead of this suffer poverty, wretchedness,
disgrace and persecution. So both of these things
are here, and must be, to mourn and be cheerful,
to eat and suffer hunger, as Paul boasts concerning
himself, Phil. iv. ii seq. : " I have learned, in what-
soever state I am, therewith to be content. I
know both how to be abased and how to abound:
everywhere and in all things I am instructed both
to be^ull and to be huno;r^ both to abound and to
suffer need." ^ Also, 2 Cor. vi. 8 seq. : "By honor
and dishonor, by evil report and good report: as
dying, and behold we live; as sorrowful, yet always
rejoicing," etc.

Therefore, the meaning is: Just as not he is
called spiritually poor who has no money or any-
thing of his own, but he who does not hanker
after it or put his confidence in it as if it were his
kingdom of heaven: so also not he is said to mourn
who is always outwardly of downcast countenance,
looking gloomy and never laughing; but he who
does not comfort himself with having a good time
and living sumptuously, as the world does — that
cares for nothing but having constant joy and
pleasure, and revels in it, and does not think or
care how it goes with God or the people.

Thus many excellent, great people, kings and

SERMON ON THK MOUNT. 35

others, that were Christians, have had to mourn
and bear trouble, although they lived splendidly
before the world; as David everywhere in the
Psalms complains about his weeping and sorrow-
ing. And also now I could easily give examples
of great people, lords and princes, who have had
the same bitter experience with reference to the
precious gospel; as, now at the late diet at Augs-
burg and on other occasions, although they got
along very well outwardly, and were clothed in
princely style in silk and gold, and to all appear-
ance were like those who walk upon roses, yet
they had to be daily right among poisonous ser-
pents, and they had to experience at heart such
unheard-of arrogance, insolence and shame, so
many evil tricks and words from the shameful
papists, who took pleasure in embittering their
hearts and as far as they could in preventing them
from having a single cheerful hour, so that they
had to chew the cud of inward misery and do noth-
ing but lament before God with sighs and tears.
Such people know something of what it means to
mourn and be sorrowful, although they do not at
once show it, but eat and drink with others, and
sometimes with laughing and jesting, to conceal
their sorrow. For you must not think that mourn-
ing means only weeping and lamenting, or wailing,
like children and women; this is not yet the real
deep grief, if it has found its way to the heart and

36 luther'vS commentary on the

pours itself out through the eyes; but that is it,
when the real hard blows come that strike and
crush the heart, so that one cannot weep or dare
complain to any one.

Therefore mourning is not a rare plant among
Christians, although it makes no outward show,
even if they would gladly be cheerful in Christ,
and also outwardly as much as they can. For
when they look at the world they must daily see
and be painfully conscious of so much malice, ar-
rogance, contempt for and blaspheipy of God and
his word, and besides so much misery and mis-
fortune that the devil occasions, both in church
and state, that they cannot have many cheerful
thoughts, and their spiritual joy is very weak.
And if they were to look at such things all the
while, and did not sometimes turn their eyes away,
they could never be cheerful at all ; it is enough
that this really happens oftener than they would
wish, so that they need not go far to find it.

Therefore only begin and be a Christian, and you
will soon learn what mourning means. If you
cannot do better, take a wife, and settle yourself,
and make a living in faith, so that you love the
word of God and do what belongs to your calling ;
then you will soon learn, both from neighbors and
in your own house, that things will not go as you
would like, and you will be everywhere hindered
and hedged so that you will get enough to suffer

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 37

and must see wliat will make you sad at heart. Es-
pecially however the dear preachers must learn this
thoroughly, and be daily exercised with it, so that
they must take to heart all manner of envy, hatred,
scorn and ridicule, ingratitude, contempt besides,
and revilejnent, so that they are inwardly pierced
and uninterruptedly tormented.

But the world will have none of this mourning,
therefore it seeks those callings and modes of liv-
ing in which it can have a good time and need not
suffer anything from anybody, as the monks' and
priests' calling used to be. For it cannot endure ^
that it should in a divinely given calling serve
other people with constant care, trouble and labor,
and get nothing for this but ingratitude and con-
tempt and other malicious treatment as a reward.
Therefore when things do not go with it as it
wishes, and one is scowled at by another, they can
do nothing but pound away with cursing and
swearing, yes, and with their fists besides, and are
ready to sacrifice property and reputation, land and
people. But God orders it so, that they still must
not get off so easily, that they need not see or suffer
any misery, and he awards to them as a recom-
pense, because they try to avoid it, that they still
must suffer, and even make this twofold greater
and heavier by their wrath and impatience, and
cannot have any comfort and good conscience.
But Christians have this advantage, that although

38 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

they mourn they shall be comforted and be blessed
both here and there.

Therefore, whoever does not want to be out and
out a worldling-, but to have part with Christians,
let him be counted in as one who helps to sigh
and mourn, so that he may be comforted, as this
promise tells. We read of a case of this kind in
the prophecy of Ezekiel, chapter nine, how God
sent six men with deadly weapons to the city of
Jerusalem. But he commissioned one among them
to go through the midst of the city with "a writer's
inkhorn by his side," to "set a mark upon the
foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all
the abominations that be done in the midst there-
of." Those thus marked were to remain alive,
but the rest were all to be slain. See, this is the
advantage of Christians, that although they must
see only sorrow and misery in the world, yet at last
it comes to pass, when the world is most secure and
is moving along in full enjoyment, that the little
wheel turns, and suddenly a misfortune overtakes
them in which these must remain and perish,
whilst the others are snatched out of it and deliv-
ered, as in the case of dear Lot at Sodom, when
they had long vexed his heart (as St. Peter says)
"with their filthy conversation." Therefore let
the world now laugh and live in revelry, according
to its lust and wantonness. And though you have
to mourn and weep, and daily see what grieves

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 39

your heart, submit and hold fast to the saying [of
our text], that you may be satisfied and comfort
yourself with it, and also outwardly refresh your-
self and be as cheerful as you can.

For those who thus mourn may properly have
and take joy when they can, so that they do not
utterly sink through sadness. For Christ also
added these very words and promised this consola-
tion, that they should not despond in their sorrow,
or let the joy of their heart be entirely taken away
and extinguished, but should mingle this mourn-
ing with consolation and refreshment, otherwise,
if they never had any comfort or joy, they would
have to pine and shrivel away. For no man can
endure nothing but mourning ; for it sucks out the
very juices of the body, as the wise man says :
"Grief has killed many people." Also: "A
gloomy spirit dries up the marrow in the bones."
Therefore we should not only avoid this, but we
should commend and urge such people to be cheer-
ful sometimes, if possible; or at least to moderate
their grief and partly forget it.

Therefore Christ does not wish that there should (
be nothing but mourning and sadness here, but
warns against those who will not mourn at all, who
want to have only a good time and all their com-
fort here ; and he wants to teach his Christians, if
it goes badly with them and they have to mourn, j
that they may know that this is God's good pleas-

40 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

lire, and it should also be theirs, and that they
should not swear, or rage, or despair, as though
their God had no mercy. When this is the case,
the little bitter draught is to be mixed with honey
and sugar, and so made less repulsive ; that is the
purpose of this promise, that this is well pleasing
to him, and that he calls them blessed, besides that
he comforts them here, and there they shall be en-
tirely relieved of sorrow.

Therefore bid good-bye to the w^orld and all that
harm us, in the name of their lord, the devil, and
let us sing this song and be cheerful, in the name
of God and Christ. For it will surely not end with
them as they wish ; but, although they now rejoice
at our misfortune, and do much to injure us, we
will still keep up good courage, and shall live to see
that they will have to weep and lament when we
are comforted and happy.

V. 5. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the
earth.

This beatitude follows admirably upon the first
when he said: Blessed are the poor in spirit, etc.
For as he there promised the kingdom of heaven
and an eternal inheritance, so he here adds a
promise of this present life and possessions here
upon earth.

But how does this agree together? to be poor
and to possess the land ? It seems to me that the

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 4I

preacher has forgotten how he began. For, if one
is to possess the land and worldly goods, he cannot
be poor. But he does not mean to say here that to
own the land and have all kinds of possessions
here upon earth, means, that every one is to possess
a whole country; else God would have to create
more worlds; but he refers to the blessings that
God bestows upon each one, that he gives to one
wife, children, cattle, house and home, and what is
implied in this, that he may abide in the land
(where he lives) and have control of his worldly
goods, as the scriptures usually speak, and it is re- ',
peatedly said in Psalm thirty-seven: "those that 1
wait upon the Lord shall inherit the earth;" also, /
' ' such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth, ' ' J
etc. Therefore, he himself adds here the gloss,
that to be spiritually poor, of which he spoke be-
fore, does riot mean to be a beggar, or to throw
away money and goods. For he teaches here that
they are to remain and dwell in the land and have
to do with earthly possessions; as we shall hear
bye and bye.

Now, what does it mean to be meek ? Here you
must, in the first place, be again reminded, that
Christ is not speaking at all about the government
and its official authority; for it does not belong to
this to be meek (sanftmiithig, as we use the word
Sanftmuth in German); for it holds the sword,
that it may punish the wicked, and it has a wrath

42 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

and vengeance that are called the wrath and ven-
geance of God ; but he is speaking only of iiidiyid-
ual persons^ how each one is to conduct himself
towards others,- aside from official position and
control; as father and mother, if they do not live
as father and mother towards their children, nor
perform their official duty as father and mother,
that is, towards those who are not called father
or mother, as neighbors and others. For I have
elsewhere often said that we must make a wide
difference between these two, office and person.
He who is known as Jack or Martin is a very dif-
ferent man from him who is called Elector, or
Doctor, or Preacher.

For here we have two different persons in one
man. One, in which we are created and born, ac-
cording to which we are all alike, man, woman,
child, young, old, etc. But when we have now
been born, God makes of you another person, makes
you a child, me a father ; one a master, another a
servant ; this one a prince, that one a citizen, etc.
That means then a divine person, holding a divine
office, and moves clothed with its own dignity, and
is not called simply Jack or Nicholas, but a prince
of Saxony, or father and master. Here he says
nothing about these, but lets them move on in their
pffice and rank, as he has ordered it ; but he is
speaking of the mere, single, natural person, what
each is to do for himself, as a man, towards others.

SRRMON ON THE MOUNT. 43

Therefore, if we hold official and authoritative L
position, we must be strict and rigid, be wrathful t'
and punish, etc. For here we must do what God *
places within our reach and of his own accord
commands us to do. Beyond this, in what is un-
official, let every one learn for himself that he be
mild towards everybody, that is, not to deal with
and treat his neighbor unreasonably, with a hate-
ful or revengeful spirit, like those who rush through
headlong, never willing to bear anything or yield
an inch, but turning the world upside down, never
listening to anybody or excusing him for anything,
but pile on the bundles at once and never stop to
think, only how they may take vengeance and
strike back again. Rulers are not hereby forbid-
den to punish and enforce retribution by divine
authority; but also no license is here granted for a
judge, burgomaster, lord or prince, who is a
villain, and confounds the two persons and goes
beyond his official authority through personal
malice, or from envy, hatred and hostility (as often
happens) under the mantle of office and legal right:
as if our neighbors, under the name of the authori-
ties, wanted to carry out something against us
which they could not otherwise accomplish.

And especially he is here talking again with his
Jews, as he had begun, who always insisted upon
it that they were not to suffer anything from a
heathen and a stranger, and that they were always

44 IwUThkr's commentary on the

right if they unhesitatingly avenged themselves,
and quoted for this purpose the sayings of Moses,
as Deut. viii. 23 : "The Lord shall make thee the
head and not the tail; and thou shalt be above
only and not beneath," etc., which would be all
right enough. But the meaning is, if God him-
self does this, then it is well done. For it is alto-
gether another matter if he orders it and says: I
will do it, and if we do it ourselves, without
authority. What he says, that shall and must be
done. What, we say, that happens if it can, or
perhaps it does not happen at all. Therefore you
have no right to apply to yourself this promise, and
take confidence from it when you want to do
something which he ought to do, and you will not
wait till he tells you to do it.

Observe, Christ is here rebuking those wild

saints who think every one is master in the whole

world and has a perfect right to bear no suffering,

but only to make a racket and bluster, and with

violence to defend his own; and he teaches us that

/he who wishes to rule and possess his own, his

/ property, home, etc., in peace, must be meek,

1 so that he may overlook things and act reason-

^ ably, and suffer just as much as he can. For it

I cannot be otherwise but that your neighbor will

1 sometimes take advantage of or injure you, either

^accidentally or through malice. If it was done ac-

^ cidentally, you make it no better on your part if

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 45

you neither can nor will endure anything. If it \
was done maliciously, you only aggravate him by ^
scratching and pounding, whilst he is laughing at
3'ou and making merry that he is worrying and /
vexing you, so that you still can have no peace or /
quietly enjoy your own.

Therefore choose one of the two, whichever you
please: either to live with meekness and patience
among the people and keep what you have with
peace and a good conscience, or with racket and
rumpus to lose your own, and besides have no
peace. For this is settled, the meek shall inherit
the earth. And look only yourself at those queer
characters that are always quarreling and disputing
about property and other matters, and yielding to
nobody, but are determined to rush everything
through, whether they do not squander more by
quarreling and contending than they could evei
gain, and at last lose land and people, house and
home, with unrest and a bad conscience besides;
and God adds his sanction to it, which says: "Be
then not meek, so that you do not keep the land, j
nor enjoy your mite with peace." But if you want
to live rightly and have rest, then let your neigh-
bor's malice and hostility smother and extinguish
itself; otherwise you cannot better please the devil, 1
or more greatly harm yourself, than by getting up/
an angry racket. Have you a government over
you? report the case and let them attend to it.

46 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

For it is the business of the government not to
permit the innocent to be much oppressed; and
God will also overrule in such a way that his word
and ordinance abides, and you according to this
promise come to possess the land. Thus you will
have peace and blessing from God, but your neigh-
bor will have unrest, together with God's displeas-
ure and curse.

But this ..sermon is intended only for those who
are Christians, and believe, and knoV that they
have their treasure in heaven, that is secure for
them, and cannot be taken from them; therefore
they must have enough also here, although they
do not have chests and pockets full of red ducats.
Since you know this, why will you let your joy be
disturbed and taken from you — yes, why even make
disquiet for yourself and rob yourself of this excel-
lent promise?

Observe, you have now three points with three
rich promises, so that he who is a Christian must
have enough, both temporal and eternal, though
he must here suffer much, both inwardly, in heart,
and outwardly. Again, the worldlings, because
they will not endure poverty, nor trouble, nor vio-
lence, neither have nor enjoy either the kingdom
of heaven or worldly good with peace and quiet.
XYou can read more about this in Psalm thirty-
j seven, which is the real commentary upon this
\ passage, and richly describes how the meek inherit
the earth and the ungodly are to be cut off.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 47

V. 6. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after
righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Righteousness must here not be understood as
being the Christian righteousness in general,
whereby the person becomes pious and acceptable
before God. For I have before said that these
eight beatitudes are nothing else than a teaching
about the fruits and good works of a Christian,
which must be preceded by faith, as the tree and
main body or sum of his righteousness and blessed-
ness, without any work or merit, out of which
these beatitudes must all grow and follow. There-
fore understand here the outward righteousness
before the world, which we observe among our-
selves towards others, that this is the meaning,
short and simple, of these words: he is a really
blessed man who perseveringly and assiduously >
strives to promote the general welfare and the right
conduct of every one, and who helps to maintain ,
and carry this out with word and deed, with coun- /
sel and act.

This is now also an excellent beatitude, which
comprehends very many good works, but which is
by no means common. For instance, that we may
illustrate, if a preacher wishes to be counted as
hungering and thirsting for righteousness, he must
be ready to instruct and help every one in his call-
ing, that he may conduct it properly and do what
belongs to it, and when he sees that there is some-

48 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

thing wanting, and things do not go right, that he
be on hand, warn, rebuke, and correct as well and
by such means as he can: thus that I, as a preacher,
be faithful to my office, and others to theirs, that
they follow my teaching and preaching, and thus
on both sides the right thing is done. Where now
there are such people as take a special and earnest
interest in gladly doing what is right, or in being
found rightly at work, these may be said to be
hungering and thirsting after righteousness. If
this were the case there would be no knavery or
injustice, but complete righteousness and blessed-
ness on earth. For what is the righteousness of
the world else than that every one do in his calling
what is due? That means that every one's rights
should be duly regarded, those of the man, the
woman, the child, the man servant and maid ser-
vant in the family, the citizen or the city in the
land; and it all amounts to this, that those who are
to oversee and rule other people execute this office
with diligence, carefulness and fidelity, and that
the others also faithfully and willingly render to
these due service and obedience.

Nor does he without cause use the phrase :
"Hunger and thirst after righteousness; " he means
thereby to indicate that in order to attain it one
must have great earnestness, a yearning eagerness
and incessant diligence : that where there is a lack
of this hunger and thirst, all will amount to noth-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 49

ing. The reason is this ; for there are too many
and great hindrances, both on the part of the devil,
who is everywhere blocking the way, and on the
part of the world, (namely his children,) which is
so wicked that it cannot endure a pious man, who
wants to do right or help others to do it ; but it so
annoys and worries him that in the end he loses
patience and is out of humor about it. For it is
painful to see how shamefully people act, and re-
ward whole-hearted kindness with ingratitude, con-
tempt, hatred and persecution. Hence also many
persons who could not bear to witness this base
conduct, at last grew desperate about it and took
refuge in the wilderness, fleeing from human so-
ciety and becoming monks, so that the saying has
often been verified : "Despair makes a monk;"
either, that one does not trust to make his own
living and runs into a monastery for his stomach's
sake, as the great crowd has done ; or, that one
despairs of the world and does not trust to remain
pious in it or to help other people.

But this is not hungering and thirsting after
righteousness. For he who wants to preach or
rule in such a way, that he allows himself to be
made weary and impatient, and to scamper off into
a corner, he will be slow to help other people. It
is not your duty to creep into a corner or into the
wilderness, but to come out briskly, if you were
therein, and offer both your Jiaiid^_and feet and
4

50 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

your whole body for use, and hazard everything
that you have and can do ; and you are to be such
a man as can be hard against hard, so as not to
allow himself to be frightened off or dumfounded,
or be overcome by the ingratitude or malice of the
world : but you sliQuld always push along and per-
severe as much as possible. In short, you should
have such a hunger and thirst after rio-hteousness
that will never diminish or cease and cannot be
satiated, so that you care for nothing else, only so
that you may accomplish and maintain what is
right, despising on the other hand everything that
would hinder you. If one cannot make the world
altogether pious, let him do what he can. It is
enough, that he has done his own duty, and has
helped some, if only one or two. If the others
will not follow, then let them go, in God's name.
One must not run off because of the wicked, but
conclude : it was not undertaken for their sake, nor
for their sake w^as it dropped ; perhaps bye and bye
some of them may come to their senses, or there
may be fewer of them, and they may somewhat
improve.

For here you have a consolatory, certain prom-
ise, with which Christ allures and attracts his
Christians, that those who hunger and thirst after
righteousness shall be filled ; that is, that they shall
be delightfully rewarded for their hunger and thirst
by seeing that they have not labored in vain, and

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 5 1

that at last some have been reached who have been
benefited; and it will be manifest not only here
' upon earth, but still more hereafter, when every
one will see what such people have accomplished
by their diligence and perseverance, although
things do not now go as they would like, and they
have nearly lost heart ; as when a pious preacher
has snatched so many souls out of the jaws of the
devil and brought them to heaven ; or a pious
faithful ruler has helped many lands and people,
who bear this testimony of him and praise him be-
fore the whole world.

Just the opposite, are the sham saints who out
of great sanctity forsake the world and run into
the wilderness, or hide themselves in corners, so
that they may escape the trouble and worry that
they must otherwise endure, and pay no regard to
what is going on in the world ; never once think-
ing upon it that they ought to help or advise other
people with doctrine, instruction, exhortation, re-
proof and correction, or at least with praying and
supplication to God. Yes, they are disgusted with
it, and grieve over it, that other people become
pious, for thej^ want to be considered the only holy
ones, so that whoever wants to get to heaven must
buy from them their good works and merit. In
short, they are so full of righteousness that they
look contemptuously upon other poor sinners, just
as the great saint Pharisee, Lk. xviii., intoxicated

52 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

with self-sufficiency, blurts out his contempt for
the poor publican, is profuse in his self-congratu-
lations, so that he pays his respects to God, and is
thankful thai he alone is pious and other people
bad.

Observe, these are the people against whom
Christ here speaks — the proud, self-sufficient spirits
that tickle themselves with and find joy and pleas-
ure in the fact that other people are not pious,
whereas they ought to pity, compassionate and
help them ; they cannot do anything else but de-
spise, backbite, judge and condemn everybody; and
everything must be stench and filth except what
they themselves do. But, that they should go and
instruct and benefit a poor faulty sinner, that they-
shun as they would shun the devil. Therefore
they will have to hear again, how Christ exclaims
about them, Lk. vi. 25: "Woe unto you that are
full, for ye shall hunger." For as those shall be
filled, who now hunger and thirst ; so must those
forever hunger, who now are so full and satiated,
and yet no one can get any good from them, or
boast that they have ever helped any one or led
him in the right way. Now you have in a word
the meaning of this beatitude, which (as above
said) comprehends many good works, yes all good
works, wherewith every one may live aright by
himself among the people and help to give success
to all sorts of offices and callings ; as I have often
shown elsewhere.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 53

V. 7. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

This is also an excellent fruit of faith, and fol-
lows well upon the preceding: he who is to help
others and contribute to the common well-being
and success, should also be kind and merciful — that
is, that he should not be ready to raise a racket
and make a disturbance if something be wanting,
and things do not go as they should, whilst there
is still hope of improvement. For that is one of
the virtues of sham sanctity that it can have no
compassion for or mercy upon the fallible and
weak, but insists upon the extremest strictness and
most careful selection, and as soon as there is the
slightest failure, all mercy is gone and they do
nothing but fume and fret; as also St. Gregory
shows how to recognize this, and say: Vera justitia
compassionem habet, falsa indignationem — true
holiness is merciful and compassionate, but false
holiness can do nothing but be angry and rage;
and yet they say: Pro zelo justitiae, (as they boast),
that is, we do it through love and zeal for right-
eousness.

For all the world is coming to see that they have
been carrying on their mischievous and outrageous
tricks under the beautiful, excellent semblance and
cover that they were doing it for the sake of right-
eousness. Just as they have heretofore exhibited
and are still exhibiting their hostility to and
treachery against the gospel under the name of

54 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

protecting the truth aud exterminating heresy;
they claim thereby to merit that God is to crown
them for this and raise them to heaven, as those
who out of great thirst and hunger for righteous-
ness persecute, strangle and burn his saints. For
they claim, forsooth, to have the name, even more
than the true saints, of hungering and thirsting
after righteousness, and put on such a sanctimon-
ious appearance and use such admirable words,
that they think even God himself will not know
any better.

But the noble tree is known by its fruits. For,
when they should insist upon righteousness, that
both spiritual and temporal affairs be rightly con-
ducted, they do not do it, do not think of instruct-
ing and improving any one, live themselves in
constant vice, and if any one rebukes their conduct,
or does not praise it and do as they wish, he must
be a heretic aud let himself be damned to hell.
See, just so is surely every sham saint. For his
self-righteousness makes him so proud that he de-
spises everybody else, and can have no kind, .
merciful heart. Therefore is this a necessary
warning against these abominable saints, so that
every one may take care, if he has to do with his
neighbor, whom he should help and rectify in his
way of living, that he still may be able to be merci-
ful, and forgive, that it may be seen that you are
honestly aiming at righteousness, and not wishing

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 55

to gratify your own malice and anger, and that
you are so ri'ghteous that you deal amicably and
gently with him who is willing to desist from un-
righteousness and become better, that you bear
with and endure his fault or weakness until he
comes to terms. If, however, you try all this, and
still find no hope of improvement, then you may
give him up and turn him over to those whose
place it is to punish him.

This is now one side of mercifulness, that one
takes pleasure in forgiving sinners and those at
fault. The other is to be beneficent also towards
those who are externally in need or require help,
which we call works of mercy, from Matt. xxv. '
35. This feature too the ostentatious Jewish saints
knew nothing about. For with them there was
nothing but ice and frost, yes a heart hard as a
block or a stone, and not an affectionate drop of
blood that found pleasure in doing good to a neigh-
bor, and no mercifulness to forgive sin; they cared
and planned alone for their own belly, although
another might die of hunger; so that there is much
more mercifulness among open sinners than in
such a saint; as it cannot be otherwise, since they
praise only themselves and count themselves holy,
despising every one else as of no account, and sup-
pose that all the world must serve them and give
them plenty; but they are not under obligation to
give anything to or to serve anybody.

56 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

Therefore this sermon and exhortation is de-
spised by and of no account among such saints,
and finds no scholars except those who are already
cleaving to and believing on Christ, who know of
no holiness of their own, but who, as already de-
scribed, are poor, wretched, meek, really hunger-
ing and thirsting, and so disposed that they despise
nobody, but compassionately sympathize with the
need of everybody else. To these applies now the
comforting promise: It is well for you that are
merciful, for you will find again abundant mercy,
both here and hereafter, and such mercy as inex-
pressibly far exceeds all human benefactions and
mercifulness. For there is no comparison between
our mercifulness and that of God, nor between our
possessions and the eternal treasures in the king-
dom of heaven; and he is so pleased with our ben-
efactions to our neighbor that he promises us for a
penny a hundred thousand ducats, if it were neces-
sary for us, and for a drink of water the kingdom
of heaven.

Now, if any one will not suffer himself to be
moved by this excellent, comforting promise, let
him turn the other side of the page and hear an-
other sentence: "Woe to the unmerciful, and let
them be cursed, for no mercy shall be shown to
them; as now the world is full of such people,
among the nobility and citizens and farmers, wlio
so wondrously sin against the dear gospel that they

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 57

not only give nothing to poor pastors and preach-
ers, but besides take and torment, where they can,
and act just as if they meant to starve it out and
drive it out of the world, and notwithstanding go
along quite securely, thinking that God must keep
quiet about it and let them do just as they please."
But they will be struck some day, and, I fear,
somebody will come who will make of me (who have
given warning enough) a prophet, and he will treat
them with perfect heartlessness, and besides take
from them reputation and property, body and life,
that God's word may remain true, and he experi-
ence unmitigated wrath and eternal displeasure
who will not show or have mercy, as St. James
says: "He shall have judgment without mercy
that hath showed no mercy."

Therefore also Christ at the last day will adduce
this unmercifulness as the worst injury done against
himself, even all that we have done out of unchar-
itableness, and will himself utter the curse: "I
was hungry and thirsty and ye gave me no meat,
ye gave me no drink, etc. Depart ye, therefore, ye
cursed, into everlasting, hellish fire," etc. He
warns and exhorts us faithfully from pure grace
and mercy. Whoever will not accept this, let him
choose the worse and eternal damnation. Consider
the rich man, Lk. xvi. igseq., who, although he
saw poor Lazarus daily lying at his gate full of
sores, had not charity enough to gi^e him a bundle

<

58 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

of straw or allow him the crumbs from under his
table. But see how fearfully he was requited, that
in hell he would gladly have given a hundred
thousand ducats if he could only boast of having
given him a thread.

V. 8. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see Cod.

This beatitude is somewhat obscure, and not so
easily understood by us who have such gross
carnal hearts and minds, and it is hidden, too,
from all the sophists, who should really be the
most learned, so that none of them can say what it
means to have a pure heart, and still less, what it
means to see God; they busy themselves with mere
dreams and evil thoughts, about matters of which
they know nothing themselves by experience.

Therefore we must look at these words according
to the Scriptures, and learn to understand them
correctly. A pure heart, they fancy, means that a
man runs off from the community into a corner, a
monastery, or the wilderness, and does not think
• upon the world, nor concern himself about worldly
affairs and business, but amuses himself with noth-
ing but heavenly thoughts; they have by this
fanciful teaching not only befooled and dangerously
misled themselves and other people, but have com-
mitted the murderous fault of holding as unclean
the doing of things and holding of positions in
society that are unavoidable in the world and indeed
are by God himself appointed.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 59

But the Scripture speaks of this pure heart and
mind, that it is quite consistent with it that one
be a husband, love his wife and children, think
about them and care for them, and busy himself
about other matters that belong to such a relation.
For all this God has ordained. But what God has
ordained, . that cannot be impure — yes, it is the
very purity with which we see God. Thus, when
a judge acts in his official capacity and condemns a
criminal to death, that is not his office and work,
but God's. Therefore it is a good, pure and holy
work (if he be indeed a Christian) which he could
not do if he had not already a pure heart. Also,
that must be called a pure work and heart, al-
though a man or maid-servant in the house per-
forms a dirty, filthy task, as hauling manure, or
washing and cleaning children. Therefore it is a
shameful perversion when one pays so little atten-
tion to the relations that are embraced in the ten
commandments, and gapes after other, special,
showy works; just as if God had not as pure a
mouth or eyes as we, or as pure a heart and hand
when he makes both man and woman: how should
then such works or thoughts make an impure
heart? But thus they shall become blind and fools ;
who despise the word of God and measure purity ;
only by the outward mask and display of works^
and meanwhile have to make mischief with their
own wandering thoughts, and stand gaping to

6o LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

climb up to heaven and feel after God, until in the
effort they break their own necks.

Therefore, let us understand rightly what Christ
means by a pure heart ; and notice again, that this
sermon was principally aimed at and sharply di-
rected against the Jews. For, as they wanted to
have no suffering, but coveted a life of ease, pleas-
ure and joy, and would not hunger, nor be merci-
ful, but to be self-satisfied and the only pious ones,
besides judging and despising others ; so their
holiness, too, was this, that they must be out-
wardly clean, in body, skin, hair, clothes and
food, so that not even a little spot dare be upon
their clothing. And if any one touched a dead
body, or had a scab or the itch upon his person, he
dared not approach other people ; that they re-
garded as purity. But that is not what constitutes
being pure, said he ; but those I praise who take
pains to be of a pure heart, as he says. Matt, xxiii.
25: "Ye make clean the outside of the cup and
of the platter, but within are full of extortion and
excess." Also: "Ye are like unto whited sepul-
chres, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but
are within full of dead men's bones and of all un-
cleanness;" just as is the case with our clergy at
present, altho' they lead outwardly a decent life,
and conduct the public worship with such formality
and display that it is something beautiful to see.
But he does not ask for such purity, but wants to

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 6 1

have the heart pure, though it be one who is out-
wardly a scullion in the kitchen, black, sooty and
beorinied, and doing- all sorts of dirtv work.

What then is a pure heart? or in what does it \
consist ? Answer : It is easily told, and you need
not climb to heaven nor run into a monastery after •
it and make it out with your own thoughts ; but /
be guarded against all such thoughts as you call [
your own, as against so much mud and filth, and \
know, that a monk in the monastery, when he is ;
sitting in his deepest contemplativeness, and think-
ing of his Lord God, as he paints and imagines
him to himself, is sitting (if you will pardon me)
in the dirt, not up to his knees, but over head and
ears. For he is following his own notions, with-
out any word of God, which is simply lying and i
delusion; as the Scriptures everywhere testify. I
But that is a pure heart, that is ever on the look-
out for God's word, and takes this in place of_it^
own thoughts. For^nTy that is pure before God,
yes purity itself, through which everything that
comes in contact with it and belongs to it is and
is called pure. So with a common rough mechanic,
a cobbler or a smith, who sits at home, though he
be personally unclean and sooty, or smells badly
on account of being blackened and soiled, and
thinks : My God has made me a man and given me
a house, wife and child, and ordered me to love
them, and with my labor to nourish them, etc.

62 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

Now observe, he is making a heart matter of it
with God, and, although outwardly he stinks, in-
wardly he is perfectly fragrant before God. But
.if he gets to be highly pure, so that he also em-
braces the gospel and believes on Christ (without
which indeed that purity cannot be), then he is
pure through and 'through, inwardly at heart
towards God, and outwardly towards everything
that is under him upon earth, so that everything
that he is and does, whether he goes, stands, eats
and drinks, etc., is pure to him, and nothing can
make him impure ; so when he looks at his own
wife or sports with her, as the patriarch Isaac, Gen.
xxvi. 8, which to a monk is disgusting and makes
him impure. For there he has the word of God,
and knows that God has given her to him. But
if he forsook his wife and took up another, or
neglected his trade or office and injured or worried
other people, he would be no longer pure ; for that
would be against the command of God.

As long, however, as he is faithful in these two
particulars, namely, in the word of faith towards
God, by which the heart becomes pure, and in the
word of the knowledge of what he is to do towards
his neighbor in his calling, everything is pure to
him, even if with his fists and his whole body he
is busy with dirt. A poor servant girl, if she does
what she ought to, and along with it is a Christian,
she is before God in heaven a beautiful, pure maid,

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 63

SO that all the angels applaud her and love to look
at her. On the other hand, the very strictest Car-
thusian, though he fasts and castigates himself to
death, does nothing but weep for pure devotion,
and never thinks about the world, and yet is with-
out faith in Christ and love towards his neighbor,
is a mere stench and pollution, both inside and
outside, so that both God and the angels abomi-
nate and are disgusted with him.

So you see how all depends upon the word of
God, so that what is comprehended in and moves
with that, must all be called clean, pure and snow-
white as to God and man. Therefore St. Paul
says, Titus i. xv:^"To the pure all things^ are
pure, " and again: "Unto them that are defiled
and unbelieving is nothing pure." Why so? Be-
cause both their mind and conscience are impure.
How can that be? For they say they know God,
but with works they deny it; for it is these that are
abominable in the sight of God, etc. Observe how
the apostle paints them in horrible colors, and how
he denounces the great Jewish saints. For, take
as an example a Carthusian monk, who thinks, if
he lives after his strict rule, in obedience, in pov- j
erty, unmarried, cut off from the world, he is in '
every respect pure. What else is that than their I
own way of thinking, aside from, the word of God
and faith, originating in their owi! heart? In this
way they consider themselves alone pure, and other]

64 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

"people impure. That St. Paul calls au impure
miud, that is, everything that they think and im-
agine.

Since now this notion and thinking is impure,
everything that they do accordingly must also be
impure for them, and as their mind is so is also
their conscience, so that, though they should and
could be useful to other people, they have a con-
science that takes its hue from their way of think-
ing and is tied up with their hoods, cloisters and
rules: they think if for a minute they should ne-
glect this routine to serve th^ir neighbor and have
anything to do with others, they would have com-
mitted the most heinous sin and have quite polluted
themselves. That all conies of not recognizing the
word of God and his creatures, although as St.
Paul says, "with their mouths they profess that
they do." For if they knew how and for what
purpose they had been created by God, they would
not despise these callings in society, nor set up so
highly their own standard, but they would ac-
knowledge these as the works and creatures of God
to be pure, and would honor them, and themselves
gladly abide in them and be helpful to their neigh-
bor. That would then be to recognize God aright,
both in his word and in his creatures, and to keep
pure both heart and conscience, which thus be-
lieves and reasons: What God does and orders,
that must be pure and good, for he makes nothing

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 65

impure, and sanctifies everythino^ tlirongli the word
that he has affixed to all callings and creatures.

Therefore guard yourself against all your own .,
thoughts, if you wish to be pure before God, and j
see to it that your heart is established and fixed
upon the word of God, then you are pure over and
above all Carthusians and saints in the world.
When I was young, they gloried in this proverb:
Love to be alone and your heart will stay puie;
and they quoted in proof a saying of St. Bernard,
who said whenever he was among the people he
befouled himself — as we read in the lives of the
fathers of a hermit, who would not have any one
come near him or talk with anybody, and said:
"The angels cannot come to him who moves
among men." We read also of two others who
would not let their mother see them; and as she
often watched her opportunity and once took them
by surprise, they presently closed the door and left
her standing without a long while weeping, until
they finally persuaded her to go away and wait
until they would see each other in a future life.

Behold, that was called a noble deed, and the
height of sanctity and most perfect purity. But
what was it? There is the word of God : "Thou
shalt honor thy father and thy mother." Had they
regarded that as holy and pure, they would have
shown their mother and their neighbor all honor,
love and friendship: on the contrary, following
5

66 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY OX THE

their own notions and self-chosen holiness, they
cnt themselves off from them, and by their very
attempt to be the purest they most shamefully de-
filed themselves before God ; just as though the
most desperate scoundrels could not have such
thouohts and put on such an appearance that one
would have to say: "These are living saints, they
can despise the world and hold intercourse only
with spirits;" — yes, with spirits from the bottom of
hell. The angels like nothing better, than when
we familiarly handle the word of God ; with such
they love to dwell. Therefore let the angels be
undisturbed up there in heaven, and look for them
here below, upon earth, in your neighbor, father
and mother, child and others, that you may do to
them what God has commanded, and the angels
will not be far away from you.

I speak thus, that one may learn in this matter
of purity to order himself aright, and not go so far
to hunt for it as the monks do, who have thrown
it quite out of the world and stuck it in a corner
or into a hood; all of which is stench and filth,
and the true harboring-place of the devil ; but let
it be where God has placed it, namely in the heart
that clings to God's word, and uses its calling and
all creatures in accordance therewith, in such a
way that both the entire purity of faith toward God
is. embraced therein, also outwardly shown in this
life, and everything is done in obedience to the

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 67

word and command of God, whether it be bodily
clean or unclean. So I have said above, con-
cerning a judge who has to condemn a man to
death, and thus shed blood and pollute himself
with it, which a monk holds to be an abominably
unclean deed ; but the Scripture calls this serving
God; as St. Paul, Rom. xiii. 1-4, calls "the
higher powers" that "bear the sword," "the
minister of God ;' ' and it is not their work and com-
mand but his, that he lays upon them and demands
from them. Now you have the meaning of a
pure heart that acts in accordance with the clean
and pure word of God.

What is however their reward, or what does he
promise them ? It is this, that they shall see God.
A glorious title and a splendid treasure! But what
does it mean to see God ? The monks have here
again their dreams, that it means to sit in the cells
and meditate heavenward, and lead a contempla-
tive life — so they call it, and have written many
books about it. But it will never do to call that
seeing God, when you come harping on your own
notions and scrambling heavenward ; as the soph-
ists and our factious spirits and crazy saints insist
upon measuring and mastering God and his word
and works by their own brains: but it is this, 'if"
thou hast a true faith that Christ is thy Saviour,
etc. , then thou seest at once that thou hast a gra-
cious God. For faith leads thee up, and opens for

68 LUTHER'S COI^IMENTARY ON THE

thee the heart and will of God, where thou behold-
est nothing but superabundant grace and love.
That is exactly what it means, to see God, not with
bodily eyes, (for with these no one can see him in
this life,) but with faith, that beholds his paternal,
friendl)' heart, in which there is no wrath or dis-
favor. For he who regards him as wrathful, does
not see him aright, but has drawn a veil and cover,
yes, a dark cloud, over his face. But to behold his
face, as the Scripture expresses it, means to recog-
nize him aright as a gracious, benevolent father,
upon whom one can rely for everything good ; and
this comes only through faith in Christ,

Accordingly also, if thou livest in thy calling
after the word and command of God, with thy
husband, wife, child, neighbor and friend, thou
canst see what is the mind of God in regard to
these relations, and canst conclude that he is
pleased, as that is not thine own dream, but his
word and command, that never belies or deceives
us. Now it is a most excellent thing, and a
treasure above all that one can think or wish, to
know that one is standing and living aright
towards God: in such a way, that not only the
heart can comfort itself with the assurance of his
grace and glory in it, but that one can know that
his external walk and conversation is pleasing in
his sight; whence it follows that he can cheerfully
and heartily do and suffer everything and let noth-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 69

ing alarm or dishearten him. None of these
things can they do who do not have this faith and
a pure heart that is guided only by God's word;
as all the monks have openly taught that no man
can know whether he is in a gracious state or not;
and it serves them just right, that, because they de-
spise faith and real godly works, and seek a purity
of their own devising, they must never see God,
nor know how they stand with him.

For if you ask some one, who has most diligently
observed his hours for prayer, held his masses daily,
and fasted, whether he is sure too that God is
pleased with this, he must say he does not know
that, and is doing it all at a venture; if it succeeds,
let it succeed. It is not possible for any one to say
anything else. For no one can boastingly say:
God gave me this hood, or ordered me to wear it;
he commanded me to hold this mass, etc. We
have all been groping in this blindness hitherto,
when we were doing so many so-called good works,
making contributions, fasting, praying rosaries,
and yet we never dared to say: This work is well
pleasing to God; I am sure of this, and will die
upon it. Therefore no one can say that in all his
doing and living he has ever seen God. Or if any
one should presumptuously glorify such works, and
think that God must regard them favorably and
reward them, that would mean seeing not God, but
the devil in place of God. For there is no word of

(

V

70 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

God for that, but it is all devised by men, grown
out of their own hearts. Therefore it can never-
more make any heart sure or satisfied, but it re-
mains hidden under presumption until the last
hour comes, when it all vanishes and drives into
despair, and so it never comes to pass that one sees
the face of God.

But he who lays hold upon the word of God and
abides in the faith, can maintain his stand before
God and look upon him as his gracious Father, and
need not fear that God is standing behind him with
a club; is sure that God is looking graciously and
smilingly upon him, together with all the angels
and saints in heaven. See, that is what Christ
means by this word, that only those behold God
who have this pure heart; whereby he cuts off and
sets aside all other sorts of purity, so that, where
this kind is not, although otherwise everything be
pure in a man, it avails nothing before God, and
Ihe can never see God. On the other hand, if the
liheart is pure, everything is pure, and it matters
lUot if outwardly everything be impure, yes, even
;if the body is full of sores, scabs and leprosy all
over.

V. 9. Blessed are the peacemakers ; for they shall be called
the children of God.

, Here the Lord honors with a high title and ex-
' cellent praise those who find pleasure in diligently

SERMON ON THK MOUNT. 7 1

"oA'ing to make peace, not only so far as they are
themselves concerned, but also among other people!
that they may help to settle ugly and tangled disK
putes, endure contention, guard against and pre-
vent war and bloodshed; which is indeed a great
virtue, but very rare in the world and among the
sham saints. For those who are not Christians
are both liars and murderers, like their father, the
devil. Therefore they serve no other purpose than
to create strife, contention, war, etc. ; as we now
find among the priests, bishops and princes hardly
anything but bloodhounds, who by many tokens
have abundantly shown, that there is nothing they
would rather see than that we should all swim in
blood. Thus, if a prince becomes angry, he thinks
at once that he must begin a war; then he inflames
and incites everybody, until there has been so
much warring and shedding of blood that he begins
to be sorry for it, and gives a thousand ducats for
the souls of those that were slain. These are noth-
ing but bloodhounds; they cannot rest until they
have taken vengeance and sated their rage, until
they have dragged their land and people into
wretchedness and misery; and yet they want to be
called Christian princes and have a good cause.

There is more needed to begin a war than that
you have a good cause. For although we are not /
forbidden here to carry on a war, as above said,
that Christ here does not mean to detract anything

72 . LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

from the powers that be and their official authoru^
but is teaching only individual people who wish to
lead for themselves a Christian life ; yet it is not
right that a prince determines to have a war with his
neighbor, even though (I say) he has a good cause
and his neighbor is in the wrong ; but the meaning
is ; Blessed are the peacemakers ; so that he who
wants to be a Christian and a child of God, not
only does not begin war and strife, but helps and
advises for peace, wherever he can, although there
was reason and cause enough for going to war. It
is enough, if one has tried his best for peace and
all avails nothing, that one acts on the defensive,
to protect land and people. Therefore not Chris-
tians, but the children of the devil are those to be
called, the quarrelsome fellows, who rush to their
rapiers and jerk their sword from its sheath for a
word ; still more, however, those who now perse-
cute the gospel, and cause its preachers to be inno-
cently burned or murdered, who have done them
no harm, but only good, and have served them with
body and soul. But of these we say nothing now,
but of those only who maintain that they are right
and have a good cause, and think that they, as high
and princely persons, ought not to suffer, although
other people would suffer.

It is also meant here, if injustice and violence
are done to you, that it is not right for you to con-
sult your own foolish head, and begin right away

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 73

'o take vengeance and strike back ; but you are to
tjihink over it and try to bear it and have peace.
V.f that will not answer, and you cannot endure it,
.)-ou have law and governmental authority in the
•jand, where you can seek relief in a regular way.
For the powers that be are ordained to guard
against this injustice and punish it. Therefore he
who injures you, sins not only against you, but
rather against the authority itself, for the order
and command to keep the peace was given to it
and not to you. Therefore let your judge, whose
business it is, avenge and punish this, for against
him your opponent has done the wrong. If you,
however, take vengeance into your own hands,
you do still greater wrong, for you make yourself
guilty of the same sin as he who sins against the
powers that be, and interferes with their office ; and )
by so doing you put your own good cause in the /
wrong. For the common saying is: "He who
strikes back is in the wrong, and striking back'
makes a quarrel,"

Notice now this is one thing that Christ here
demands against the revengeful and uproarious;
and he calls those peacemakers, in the first place,
who help to make peace among the people, as
pious princes, counselors or jurists, and persons in
• authority, who hold their governmental position
for the sake of peace. In the second place, pious
citizens and neighbors, who by their salutary good

74 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

counsel adjust, harmonize and settle coutentioiV,
strife (that has been occasioned by bad, poisonou
tongues) between husband and wife, or anion; ^
neighbors; as St. Augustine boasted of his mother ?
Monica, that when she saw two at outs she alway^ »
spoke the best on both sides, and whatever of good'
she heard about the one party that she brought to
the other, but whatever of evil she heard that sh<t
kept quiet, or mildened it as much as she could, and
thus she often effected a reconciliation. For it is
among the women particularly that the shameful
vice of slander is prevalent, often so that great
trouble is occasioned through an evil tongue. To
this those bitter and poisonous brides of the devil
largely contribute, who if they hear a word about
anybody give it a point and edge, and intense bit-
terness against others, so that sometimes wretched-
ness and murder are the result.

This all comes from the fact that there is natur-
/Qlly sticking to us the shameful, devilish filth, that
every one likes to hear and tell the worst about his
/neighbor, and is tickled if he sees a fault in some
) one else. If a woman were as beautiful as the sun,
/ and had any mark or little spot upon her body, one
I should forget everything else and look only for the
*^ spot, and talk about that. So, if some one were the
most renowned for honor and virtue, yet a poison-
ous tongue shall come along and say she had been
seen once laughing with somebody, and so defame

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 75

her as to eclipse all her praise and honor. Such
are real poisonous spiders that can suck nothing
but poison out of a beautiful, lovely rose, and ruin
both the flower and the sap, whilst a little bee
sucks nothing but honey out of it and leaves the
roses uninjured.

That is the way those act, who discern nothing
in other people, unless there is something faulty or
impure in them, which they can blame; on the
other hand, what there is good in them, they do
not see; for men have many virtues which the
devil cannot destroy, and yet he hides or defaces
them that they shall not be seen. So, in the case
of a woman, though she be very full of faults and
have no other virtue, yet she is a creature of God,
and can at least carry water and wash clouts; and
there is no person upon earth so bad that there is not
something in him that one must praise. How is it,
then, that we leave out of view the good and feast
our eyes upon what is impure, as if we took delight
(by your leave) in looking only at a man's behind,
when God himself has covered the uncomely parts
of the body, and (as Paul says, i Cor. xii. 24)
"has given more abundant honor to that part
which lacked?" And we are such a filthy set,
that we seek only after that which is dirty and
stinks, and wallow in it like hogs.

See, those too are real children of the devil,
who himself gets his name from doinof that, so that

76 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

he is called diabohis^ that is, a disgracer and reviler,
who finds his pleasure in this, that he puts us most
completely to shame, and embitters us among our-
selves, so that he may occasion only murder and
misery, and allow no peace or concord between
brethren and neighbors, husband and wife.

I once heard of a case of this kind, of two mar-
ried persons who lived together in such love and
harmony that they were the town's talk, and when
the devil could not hinder this in any way, he sent
an old hag to the woman, who told her that her
husband was going with another woman and meant
to kill her; she thus embittered her heart against
her husband, and advised her to conceal a knife
about her person, that she might get ahead of him.
When she had accomplished this, she went to the
husband and told him the same about her, that she
meant to murder him, and in proof of it (said she)
he would find at night a knife beside her in bed.
That he then found, and cut off her head with it.
'Whether this be true or not, it shows at all events
what wicked, poisonous tongues can do, even be-
tween those who heartily love each other, so that
they may properly be called devil's-mouths or
female devils, as he, the devil, diabolus, signifies
nothing else than a bitter, poisonous, evil mouth.
' Therefore be on your guard against such as
these, that you pay no attention to them, and learn
to put the best construction upon, or even to con-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 77

ceal, what you hear about your neighbor, so that
you may make and keep peace and harmony; then
you can be called with all honor a child of God be-
fore all the world and the angels in heaven. You
should let yourself be drawn and attracted by this
honor — yes, you should run after it, if that were
possible for you, even to the end of the world, and
gladly give for it all that 5'ou have. Now you
have it here offered to you and spread before you
for nothing, do not need to do or give anything for
it, except that if you want to be a child of God,
that you also show yourself to be that, and do the
works of your Father towards your neighbor. For ^^
thus has our Lord Christ done for us when he re-
conciled us to the Father and secured his favor,
and still daily intercedes for us and pleads our
cause. Do thou likewise, that thou mayest be a
pacificator and mediator between thy neighbors, and
carry the best to both sides, but withhold the bad,
that the devil has inspired, or explain it as well as /
you can. If you come to Margaret, do as was said
of Monica, the mother of Augustine, and say: O,
dear M., why are you so bitter? .She surely don't
mean it ill; I see nothing else about her but that
she would like to be your dear sister, etc. In like
manner, if you meet with Catharine, do the same
with her. Then as a true child of God you would
have effected on both sides a peace, as far as you
could.

v»»

78 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

But if yon will or must speak of the evil, then do
^/'\ as Christ has taught you. Do not carry it to
others, but go to him who has done the wrong and
exhort him to do better; not in such a way that
you make a display of it when you come, and ex-
pose the person concerned; that you speak when
you should be silent, and be silent when you should
speak. This is one and the first way that you
should deal alone between yourself and your neigh-
bor. If, however, you must tell it to others, if the
other course does not answer, then tell it to those
whose duty it is to punish, father and mother, mas-
ter or mistress, burgomaster and judge, etc. That
is the right and regular course to pursue, that what
is wrong may be done away or punished. Other-
wise, if you spread it among other people, the per-
son remains unbenefited, and the evil unrebuked,
and will besides be reported abroad by yourself and
others, so that it will be on everybody's tongue.
Notice how a pious physician does with a sick
child ; he does not run about among the people and
herald it abroad, but he goes to the child and exam-
ines his pulse, or whatever is necessary, not that he
may gratify his pleasure at the child's expense, or
make fun of him, but with the good and kind inten-
tion of helping him. So we read of the holy patri-
arch Joseph, Gen. xxxvii. 2, 10, who was with his
brothers, by the cattle, and when they were badly
reported of, he went and told it to their father, as

SERMON ON THK MOUNT. 79

their master, in whose place it was to look into the
matter and punish them, for they would not hear
him.

But you may say: Why then do you yourself
publicly attack the pope and others, and do not
keep the peace? Answer: One must advise and
help all he can for peace, and keep silence as
well as he can. But, when the sin is public, and
becomes too widel)^ spread, or does public injury
(as the pope's teaching), then it is no longer right
to be silent, but to protest and rebuke, especially
for me and others, who are in public office, whose
duty it is to teach and warn ev^erybody. For the
command and duty has been laid upon me, as a
preacher and doctor, who am to watch that no one
is misled, so that I may give account of this at the
last judgment. So St. Paul, Acts xx. 28, com-
mands the preachers, that they are to watch and
guard the whole flock against the wolves that
would appear among them, etc. So it becomes me
to rebuke those who sin publicly, that they may
do better, just as a judge must publicly convict and
punish the evil-doers by virtue of his office. For
we have said it often enough that Christ is not
speaking here of a public office, but of all Christians
in ge;ieral, according as we are all alike before God.

V. 10. Blessed are they zvhich are persecuted for righteotistiess''
saki\ tt'' theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

IsecH'e said above that these statements and
6

8o i^uther's commentary on the

promises must all be understood as matters of
faith, and as said concerning things that are not
seen nor heard, and they have no reference to out-
ward appearances. For how can those be said to
be prosperous and blessed outwardly who are poor
and mourn, and besides must suffer all sorts of
persecution, which things the whole world and
reason call adversity, and which they teach to
avoid? Therefore whoever wants to have the
blessedness and the good things that Christ here
speaks of, he must lift up his heart above all senses
and reason, and not judge himself by his feelings,
but must argue thus: Am I poor, then am I not
poor. Poor I am outwardly, according to the flesh,
but before God in faith I am rich. So, when he
feels sad, dejected and worried, he must not judge
accordingly and say he is an unhappy man, but he
must turn about and say: I feel sadness, indeed,
misery and inward sorrow, but nevertheless I am
blessed, cheerful and comfortably wfixed upon the
word of God, Just the opposite of this is the case,
too, in the world, so that those who are called rich
and happy are not so. For Christ utters his woe
against them, and calls them unhappy, although it
appears as if they were well off and succeeding
admirably. Therefore they should raise their
thoughts above riches and a good time which the"^'
are enjoying, and should say: I am indeed ric^j^^ id
live in the midst of enjoyment, but alas for J?|^e,f I

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 8l

have nothing else than this! For amid all this
there must assuredly be abundant misery, wretch-
edness and sorrow, that will overtake me before I
am aware of it. The same is true of all these say-
ings, that every one of them has a different aspect
before the world from that it wears according to
these words.

Now we have hitherto treated nearly all the parts
of a Christian mode of living and the spiritual
fruits of faith in these two aspects: First, as to his
person, that he is poor, sad, miserable, suffers want
and hunger, and along with this, towards others
is a useful, beneficent, merciful, peaceable man,
and does .nothing but good works. Here he now
adds the last, how he is treated for all this — that
although he is full of good works, even towards
enemies and evil men, he must get this reward
from the world, that he is persecuted, and lose
body, life and everything for it.

Therefore, if you wish to be a Christian, con-
sider this well, that you may be unterrified, and not
on that account become out of heart and impatient,
but be cheerful and content with it all, and know
that you are not badly off when this happens to
you. For the same thing happened to himself and
all the saints, (as is soon hereafter stated,) and to
those who wish to be Christians it is for this rea-
son thus foretold, that they shall and must suffer
persecution. Therefore you must make your

82 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

choice. You have two ways open before you,
either towards heaven and eternal life, or towards
hell; either with Christ or with the world. But
you must know this: If you live so that you will
have a good time here, and no persecution, then
you will not get to heaven with Christ, and the
converse; and you must, in short, either let Christ
and heaven go, or choose this, that you will suffer
all manner of persecution and evil treatment in the
world. In a word, he who will have Christ, must
forfeit personal ease, life, goods, honor, the favor
of the world, and not be frightened at contemptu-
ous treatment, ingratitude or persecution. The
reason is this: The devil is a wicked, wrathful
spirit, and neither can nor will endure it that a man
enters the kindom of God. If any one undertakes
to do this, he throws himself in his way, and stirs
up and tries all the opposition against him that he
•can.

Therefore, if von wish to be a child of God, get

!. .

ready for persecution, as the wise man says, and

Paul in 2 Tim. iii. 12: "All that will live godly in
Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." x\lso Christ
himself: "The disciple is not above his Master.
Have they persecuted me? they will also persecute
you;" It cannot be otherwise, therefore it is said:
"Blessed are those that are persecuted for right-
eousness' sake;" so that one may know with what
to console himself For otherwise it is a trying,

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 83

unhappy condition, outwardly viewed, and has a
bad influence, to be sitting constantly in bodily
and pecuniary danger. But when faith takes hold,,
he can lift himself above it all and think: Now\
Christ has nevertheless said that I am blessed and
well off. Because he has said it, I let this be my
comfort and it gives me great delight. The word
shall enlarge my heart — yea, make it greater than /
heaven and earth. For what are all that persecute
me contrasted with this man or his word ? Is it
one or two that are persecuting us? Those who
are on our side, who encourage, console: and con-
gratulate us, are many more, yes ten thousand
angels to one of them, together with all the saints,
who side with Christ and God himself. Therefore
we must not let this word lie so cold and simple,
but inflate it well and magnify it, and set it in op-
position to all persecution ; thus we will see and
learn that all our suffering is to be despised as
nothing at all, in contrast with this great consola-
tion and eternal blessing.

But he adds significantly this expression: "for
righteousness' sake ; " to show that it is not enough
to be persecuted if this be wanting. For the
devil and bad people must also endure persecution,
and one scoundrel often quarrels with another, and
they are not mutually friendly ; as one murderer
perseautes another, a Turk makes war upon a
Tartar, but these are not for that reason happy ;

84 LUTHER'S com:\ikntary on the

but it is true only of those who are persecuted for
righteousness' sake; as also Peter, i Pet. iv. 15,
says : "Let no one among you suffer as a murderer,
or thief, or evil-doer," etc. Therefore it all
amounts to nothing for any one without this [i. e. ,
righteousness] to boast and make an ado about
great suffering ; as the graceless monks have misled
the poor people whom they have led out to punish-
ment for their evil-doing, and have told them for
their comfort that they were paying for their sin
by their death. But do you beware of the death
that is t© atone for your sin. For this belongs to
the bottom of hell. There must first be righteous-
ness and the death of Christ the Lord.
/ r Therefore see to it, that you have in the first
place a real divine cause for the sake of which you
must suffer persecution, and are really sure of it,
: so that your conscience can safely rest upon it, even
if the whole world were opposed to you. There-
fore, first of all, the word of God must be confidently
and firmly grasped, so that no doubt or hesitation
can arise from that source, x\s, if now the em-
peror, bishops or princes wanted to forbid married
life, liberty to eat, using both forms in the sacra-
ment, etc., and would persecute you on that ac-
count : then you must see to it, that your heart is
sure of the matter and firmly convinced that the
word of God has made these things free and* unfor-
bidden, yes, commands us to make a serious matter

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 85

of them and stake even life upon them. Thus you
can confidently say : this cause is not mine, but it is
that of my Lord Christ. For I have not concocted
it out of my own head, nor have I undertaken or
begun it of my own accord, or at the advice or sug-
gestion of any one else ; but I have received it from
the mouth of Christ, brought down and announced
from heaven, who never belies or deceives me, but
is himself pure truth and righteousness. Upon the
word of this man I will venture to suffer, to do and
leave undone whatever is befitting, and his word,
by itself, shall avail more to comfort and strengthen
my heart, than the raging and threatening of all
devils and of the world can avail to terrify me.

For what does it amount to, if a prince or em-
peror is foolishly furious in his rage, and threatens
with sword, fire or the gallows, if my Saviour on
the contrary, friendly communes with my heart
and comforts me with these assurances that I am
blessed, and in hearty sympathy with my God in
heaven, and all the heavenly host and holy beings
call me blessed? If my heart and mind are in
such a state that I can sufier for the sake of his
word and work, why should I allow myself to be
frightened by these wretched people, who indeed
rage and foam in hostility against God, but who
suddenly vanish like smoke or like poor soap-bub-
bles? As the prophet Isaiah says, li, 12 sq. : "I,
even I, am he that comforteth you : who art thou.

86 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall
die, and of the son of man which shall be made as
grass ; and forge ttest the Lord thy Maker, that hath
stretched forth the heavens and laid the founda-
tions of the earth," etc., that is, he is everlasting
and almighty who comforts thee and has pleasure
in thee : when they all shall have vanished he will
still be sitting above there, and thou too. Why
will you then care more for the threatening and
fuming of a miserable, stinking maggot-bag, than
for this divine consolation and approbation ? You
should rather thank God, and be heartily glad of
it, that you are worthy to suffer thus, as the apos-
tles went forth (Acts v. 41) "rejoicing that they
were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name."
See, are we not now highly blessed with these
words, if we only accept it with loving gratitude?
for there is no lack of persecution. And we have
along with it the great advantage, that our ene-
mies themselves cannot condemn our cause, and
must confess (no thanks to them for it) that it is
right and the truth ; but there is this wanting in
the matter, that we should teach it, for they will
not learn or accept from us, what has never hap-
pened or been heard of before. Therefore, what
we suffer on this account is a holy, blessed suffer-
ing, as they must themselves bear witness, and it
is now no longer a human, but a real devilish per-
secution, so that they say we must and shall not

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 87

call it the word of God, but must hold our tongue
and not preach, unless we first go and fall at the
feet of the Pope, and submit to be judged as it may
please him and his minions.

Therefore let us suffer, so much the more wil-
lingly and joyfully, everything that they can do
against us, because we have the strong, sure con-
solation, and great, glorious satisfaction, that our
teaching and cause are confirmed by their own!
mouth ; besides that, we hear in this place the ex-|
cellent charming promise that we shall be well
rewarded in heaven, and are to rejoice and exult in l\
this, as those who do not need to look forward to
heaven, but have it already ; and they with their
persecuting only the more help us thitherward, yes,
actually drive us toward heaven. Now see, whether
these simple, short words cannot give as much
courage as the whole world can do, and inspire
more comfort and joy than all the suffering and tor-
ment that our enemies can inflict upon us ; if we
do not hastily skim over them, but heartily appro-
priate them and duly consider them.

This we have to say as to the persecution that is
carried on by actual violence and affects person or
property, when Christians are seized and tortured,
burned, hanged and massacred ; as happens now,
and has happened heretofore. Beyond this there is
another kind of persecution which is called defama-
tion, disgracing, putting to shame, which concerns

88 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

our honor and good name, in which way Christians
above all others have to suffer. Of this Christ now
further treats.

V. II. Blessed arc ye, when men shall revile you, and perse-
cute you, and shall say all maimer of evil against you falsely,
for my sake.

This is also a great, severe persecution, and (as
above said) the real suffering of Christians, that
they are most bitterly and poisonously slandered
and defamed. For, although other people too
must suffer persecution, so that they are violently
and unjustly treated ; yet men are satisfied with al-
lowing them to retain their honor and good name.
This is therefore still no real Christian suffering.
For to this it is not enough that all manner of tor-
tures and torments are imposed upon them ; but
along with this their name must be most shame-
fulh- spit upon and slandered, so that the world
loudly boasts, when it murders the Christians, that
it has executed the worst scoundrels, whom the
earth could no longer carry, and that it has done
God the greatest and most acceptable service, as
Christ says, John xvi. 2 ; so that there is no name
upon earth so slandered and disgraced as that of a
Christian, and no people so bitterly opposed and
attacked by such malicious, poisonous tongues as
the Christians.

They are showing this now thoroughly in their
treatment of the dear gospel and its preachers, by

SERMON ON THK MOUNT. 89

such slanderous abuse, lying, deception, evil arti-
fices, and malicious misrepresentations, that one
would rather die ever so often than endure these
poisonous, malicious darts. Here comes the Pope
hurling his thunderbolts and damning us under
nine hells, as children of the very worst devil. In
like manner his hangers-on, bishops and princes,
are raging and roaring with such an abominable
vilifying and reviling as to strike one through and
through, so that one would at last have to become
weary, and be no longer able to endure it, if we
had not a stronger and mightier consolation than
all their malice and rage amounts to. Therefore
we let them rage and defame, that they may plague
themselves and have the scorching misery with
their poisonous insatiable hatred and envy. But
we are well satisfied and in good spirits. If they
are determined to be very angry and. rage, we can,
on the other hand, laugh and be cheerful.

Therefore I say again: Let him who wants to be
a Christian know that he must expect to suffer such
persecution from poisonous, wicked, slanderous
tongues, especially where they can do nothing with
their fists, that he may let all the world sharpen
their tongues upon him, and aim at him, sting and
strike him, and he on the other hand only defiantly
despise all this, and besides laugh in God's name,
and let them rage in the name of their god, the
devil, in the comfortable assurance (as above said)

90 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

that our cause is right, aud is God's own, which
they must themselves confirm, although they in-
deed condemn us, and yet say it is the truth; be-
sides, our heart and conscience before God are as-
sured that we are teaching aright. For we are not
teaching out of our own head and reason or wis-
dom, nor are we seeking our own advantage, prop-
erty or honor thereby before the world; but we
preach and praise only God's word and his doings.
On the other hand they, our enemies, glory in
nothing but their own works, merits and holiness,
and us, who do not practice these things with them,
they persecute on that account. For they do not
persecute us as if we were adulterers, robbers or
thieves, etc. ; they can indeed tolerate amongst
them the most desperate scoundrels and villains ;
but they raise a terrible hue and cry, because we
will not approve their doctrine and life, and praise
only the gospel, Christ, faith and really good works,
and thus suffer not for ourselves, but everything for
the sake of Christ the Lord. Therefore we will
sing the whole tune with them, and we will show
them that our head is harder than theirs. For,
in a word, they must let the man alone, whether
-they like it or not.

V. 12. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is yoior reward
in heaven.

These are surely sweet, comforting words, that
ouofht to make our heart cheerful and courasreous

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 9I

against all sorts of persecution. Ought one not to
regard as dearer and of more account the word and
consolation of the dear Lord, than that of an impo-
tent maggot-bag, or the raging, threatening, ex-
communicating, cursing and thundering of the
abominable Pope, even if he were to pour out upon
us the very dregs and whole hell of his wrath and
cursing, like a cloudburst ; because I hear that
Christ my Lord is so heartily pleased, and orders me
to be myself happy along with it, besides he prom-
ises me such an excellent reward, that the kingdom
of heaven shall be mine and everything that Christ
has, along with all saints and all Christendom; in
short, such a treasure and consolation that I ought
not to exchange it for all the world's possessions,
joy and music, although every leaf and blade of
grass were a tongue that sang my praises. For
here it is not a Christian that calls one blessed, yes,
not an angel, but the Lord of all the angels, at
whose feet both they and all creatures must fall
and offer supplication. Therefore they, along with
all other creatures, even the very leaves and grass,
must cheerfully join in singing about me and danc-
ing in my praise.

And what on the other hand are they who slan-
der and curse me but mere nits and lousy fellows
(pardon the expression), yes, much more infamous
than can be told. Even if all creatures, the leaves
and blades of grass in the forest, and the grains of

92 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

sand along- the sea-shore, were so many tongnes to
rebnke and annihilate them, what would all that
be in contrast with the single word of this man?
For his voice sounds so clearly that heaven and
earth must be filled and resound with it, whilst on
the other hand the slobbery, hoarse scratching and
coughino- of his enemies are no longer heard.

See, thus we ought to learn a little how to use
and take advantage of these words, that do not
stand here in vain, but were spoken and written
to strengthen and comfort us, with which he as
our dear Master and faithful Shepherd or Bishop,
equips us to be un terrified and well prepared to suf-
fer, if they impose upon us all manner of torment
and misfortune for his sake, both by words and
deeds, and that we may despise all that is offensive
to us, and condemn it despite our reason and heart.

For, if we are led by our own thoughts and feel-
ings, we have a hard time of it, and it hurts that one
should serve, help, advise and benefit the world and
everybody, and get no thanks for it but the very
worst, most bitter hatred, and cursed, poisonous
tongues, so that, if flesh and blood were to rule
here, it would soon say: If I am to get nothing
else for this, then let who will cling to the gospel
and be a Christian, and let the devil henceforth
help the world, if it will have it so. Hence too
everybody is now complaining and crying — the
gospel is making much discord, strife and disturb-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 93

ance in the world, and everything is worse since it
has been published than it was before, when every-
thing- moved along quietly, and there was no per-
secution, and the people lived together as good
friends and neighbors.

But this is what it means: If you will not have
the gospel or be a Christian, then go and be a
worldling,, and nobody will persecute you, and you
will be a friend of the world. But if you will have
the gospel and Christ, then you must expect to
have trouble, contention and persecution wherever
you go. Reason: because the devil won't allow it
to be otherwise, or cease to egg the people on
against the gospel, so that all the world is incensed
against it; just as now farmers, citizens, noblemen,
princes and lords, who are hostile to the gospel from
sheer wantonness, and do not themselves know
why.

Therefore I make this reply to these idle talkers
and grumblers: There neither can nor ought to be
a peaceful, quiet state of things. For how could it
be so where the devil is ruling, and is a deadly
enemy to the gospel? And this, indeed, not with-
out reason, for it hurts him in his kingdom, so
that he feels it; and if he would let it move on un-
hindered, his kingdom would soon be totally de-
stroyed. But if he is to resist and hinder it, then
he must rally all his art and power, and stir up
against it whatever he can. Therefore do not hope

94 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

for any peace and quietness as long as Christ and
his gospel are in the midst of the devil's kingdom.
And woe upon the pleasant and comfortable time
that used to be, and upon those who now wish to
have it back again! For this is a sure sign that
the devil is ruling wath great power, and no Christ
is here; as I, alas! am concerned, lest it be so again,
and the gospel be taken away from us Germans all
too soon, which is what these noisy fellows are
stru<2:o:lino^ for.

But we have this assurance, that it is not our
fault that things are not going right. For we
wcdild be heartily glad if everything went right,
and have done our part by teaching, exhorting,
beseeching, entreating and yielding, even towards
our enemies, offering them peace, and everything
that we ought to do; yet we accomplish nothing,
except that they persecute, slander and abuse us
most shamefully, and cannot cease until they may
cool their rage in our blood. As it will not there-
fore be otherwise, we let them go on at last with
their threatening, raging and defaming, and take
to ourselves the comfort of which we have heard,
assured, that they cannot accomplish what they
desire unless they first have hurled Christ from
heaven, and made him, with all that he has said,
a liar.

^^ For thus persecuted they the prophets that were before youy

You are not alone (he means to say) in suflfering

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 95

thus. Look about you and couut backward to all
the holy fathers that ever lived before you, aud you
will fiud that they were served the same way. What
special treatmeut do you expect? Is he to chauge
his plau ou your account? He had to suffer it in
the case of his dear patriarchs and prophets, that
they were persecuted and slain, besides being per-
secuted and traduced by everybody, and made the
mock of the world, as we see in the Scriptures,
that it was a common proverb, if one wishes to
name a prophet, one names for them a fool; as in
the history of Jehu, 2 K. ix. ii, they said of a
prophet: "Wherefore came this mad fellow to
thee?" And Isaiah shows, Ivii. 4, how they
"made a wide mouth and drew out the tongue"
against him. But what did they gain thereby?
For now the dear prophets and saints have honor
and praise in all the world, and besides are ruling
forever with Christ the Lord; but they are an
abominable stench and are accursed. This you are
to expect for yourselves (says Christ) assuredly, that
you shall be rewarded as they are, only more abun-
dantly and gloriously than you can believe, or even
dare to desire. For you belong to the same com-
pany.

See, this is surely an excellent, precious Preacher
and faithful Master, who omits nothing that serves
to strengthen and console, both byword and prom-
ise, besides by the example and testimony of all the

96 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

saints and of himself; and with this a<:^ree all the
angels in heaven and all creatnres. What more,
then, should we have and desire? Should we not
in consideration of such consolation, for his sake
patiently endure the wrath and insolence of the
world and the devil? What would we do, if we
had not a righteous divine cause, and such excel-
lent assurances, and still had to suffer like other
people who have no consolation? For it cannot be
in the world that one need not suffer anything, and
there must be (as above said) some suffering on
account of the gospel, that the pious may thereby
be tested and helped to their promised consolation,
joy and blessedness; but the wicked and despisers
or enemies of the gospel be punished and damned.
Thus, now, has Christ hitherto prepared and in-
structed his Christians, how they are to live and
suffer in the world, and especially those who are
to hold public office in the Church; although even
aside from this, every Christian ought to be always
ready to stand by himself, where it is necessary, to
confess his Lord, and to represent his faith, and be
always ready-armed against the world, the devil,
the mob, and whatever may be arrayed against him.
(^^Now he goes further, and means to commit to them
the office, and teach them how to administer it;
afterward also to lay upon their lips what and how
they are to preach. For with these characteristics
a Christian is entirely perfect if he personally lives

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 97

right and suffers variously because of this, if he
afterwards also properly administers his office, in
which he is to serve and help others.. Thus he
now adds:

V. 13. Ve are the salt of the earth; but if the salt have lost
his savor, ivhereivith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good
for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of
men.

With the word salt he indicates (as above said)
what their office is to be. For salt is not salt for
itself; it cannot salt itself; but this is the use of it,
that one salts meat with it, and other things needed
in the kitchen, so that they retain their taste, re-
main fresh, and do not decay. So, says he'. Ye are
also salt; not that which belongs to the kitchen,
but that with which this flesh, which is the whole
world, may be salted. This is indeed a glorious
office, and a great, excellent honor, that God
should call them his salt, and adds, that they are
to salt everything that is upon earth. But to be
this a man is needed, who is ready, as Christ has
hitherto taught, to be poor, wretched, thirsty,
ineek, etc., and to suffer all kinds of persecution,
reviling and defamation. If this be wanting, the
man will never be a preacher who will do the riglit
kind of salting, but he will be a savorless salt, that
is of no manner of use.

For it is asking a great deal, and heaping it on
too heavily, that the poor fishermen or any poor
7

98 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

despised man should be called before God a salt of
the earth, and undertake to lay hold and salt
everything that is of human kind upon earth.
Reason and nature cannot do it; for it grows weary
of it, and cannot bear that it must get from it only
disgrace, shame and misfortune, and would soon
say: Let the devil salt the world for me. Tliere-
fore our holy fathers, bishops, monks and hermits
have acted shrewdly in neglecting preaching and
attending to otlier matters, or have withdrawn from
intercourse with the people; for they saw that it costs
too much to sit in constant danger of losing honor,
property and life, and they thought, we will hand
it over to others, and meanwhile creep into corn-
ers and serve God, having a good time. Hence it
is a difficult matter to be an apostle or preacher,
and fill such an office; yes, impossible, judging ac-
cording to flesh and blood. But there must be
such people as do it willingly for the sake of God
and Christ the Lord, who does not wish to force
any one to it or drive him with commands. For
to be a Christian demands a willing heart; he who
does not heartily desire it had better let it alone.

But our joyful and defiant confidence is this,
when we are in trouble, the world and the devil
looking askance at us, and doing us all the harm
they can, that he says to us: Ye are the salt of the
earth. When this word shines into the heart, so
that a man can rely upon it, and be absolutely sure

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 99

that he is God's salt, then let him be wrathful and
malicious who will not laugh. I can be more con-
fident and boast more upon his single word than
they upon all their power, swords and guns. For
because he recognizes me as being that, and gives
the evidence of it through his word, all the angels
in heaven, yes, sun and moon, together with all
creatures, must confirm it and stand by us against
the world and the devil. And even if that were
not so, we would still have enough in his single
word, that he thus names and baptizes us. That
they must let stand; and we will surely be before
them in honor as long as Christ and his word en-
dures.

Now it is easy to understand how it is with this
salting, namely, that one must stand up and say:
everything that is born and lives upon earth, is of
no account, it is rotten and corrupt before God.
For, because he says bluntly and plainly, they shall
be a salt of the earth, that is, as to everything
that the world is; then it must follow, that every-
thing that is in the world, and is called flesh, or
mankind, must be rebuked and thoroughly salted,
so that we condemn the sanctity, the wisdom and
the divine worship of all the world, self-devised,
aside from the word of God, as coming from the
devil and belonging to the pit of hell, if it do not
hold to Christ alone.

This is then a harsh style of preaching; it makes

TOO LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

US disagreeable to the world, and deserves that men
get angry at us and strike us in the month. For
the world could easily endure that we preach aright
about Christ and all the articles of the faith; but if
we want to lay hold of them and salt them by show-
ing that their wisdom and sanctity are of no ac-
count, yes, are blind and damned, this it cannot and
will not endure, and it charges the preachers with
not being able to do anything but scolding and
biting; it blames us with having disturbed society
and created discord, with having maligned the
clergy and good works.

But what can we do about it? If we are to salt,
it must bite. And although they denounce us
as biters, we know that it has to be so, and Christ
has ordered this, and he means that the salt shall
be sharp and bite away, as we shall hear. So St.
Paul also does constantly; he rebukes the whole
world and denounces all its living and acting, if
there be no faith in Christ; and Christ says, John
xvi. 8, "when the Holy Ghost comes, he shall re-
prove the world of sin," etc., that is, he shall
attack ever3-thing that he finds in the world, shall
make no exception or difference, shall not rebuke
some and praise others, or punish only thieves and
scoundrels: but he will seize all, all in a mass, one
with another, whether one be great, small, pious,
wise, holy, or whatever he may be; in short, every-
thing that is not Christ. For the Holy Ghost does

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. lOI

not need to come into the world or send preachers
into the world that he may exhibit and punish
outwardly gross sins, adultery, murder, etc., which
the world itself can very well know and punish;
but that which it regards as the most precious, and
in which it is at its best, claiming to be pious and
holy, and meaning thereby to serve God.

Therefore it is all wrong, that some now sophis-
tically assert that it is enough that a preacher tell
every one what is right, and simply preach the gos-
pel, but that one dare not touch the Pope, the bish-
ops, princes and other ranks or persons, whereby
much discord and contention are occasioned; but
the real meaning is: If you will preach the gospel
and be of use to the people, you must be sharp and
rub the salt into the wounds, that is, must show
the opposite and rebuke what is not right, as n6w
the mass, monkery, indulgences, etc., and every-
thing that is connected with them, so that these
scandals are removed and no one is thereby de-
ceived. Therefore we must keep on here with our
salting, that we may protest and leave no room for
its coming back again or being sneakingly intro-
duced; for this will happen, if the salting is not
diligently kept up, as used to be the case in Chris-
tendom, so that miserable rotten human teaching
ruled and ruined everything ; which would not
have been the case, if the salt had remained. For
there would have been no lack of sound doctrine,

I02 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

because by the grace of God still the Scriptures,
the gospel, the sacraments, the pulpits remained in
the Church, if only the bishops and preachers had
attended to this, and had employed these means for
salting with them whatever is of the old Adam.

Therefore Christ here exhorts and warns the dis-
ciples so diligently that they see to it that this salt-
ing is always attended to, and says: If the salt have
lost his savor, wherewith shall it then be salted?
Salt that has lost its savor means that which has
lost its strength and sharpness, and no longer sea-
sons or bites; that is, when the office in Christen-
dom deteriorates so that one ceases to reprove the
people, and does not show them their misery and
their inability, nor insist upon repentance and self-
knowledge, lets them live along as if they were
pious and all right, and thus allows their wrong
notions of self-righteousness and self-chosen wor-
ship to prevail so long, until the true doctrine con-
cerning faith is entirely wrecked, and Christ is lost,
and things come to such a pass that there is no
help for it.

This he foresaw as here intimated, and he pre-
dicted the future danger, even the injury and cor-
ruption of Christendom, that this salting or official
rebuking would be neglected, and instead of it
there would arise a swarm of parties and sects,
when every one would herald his own hobby as a
true doctrine and worship, when all this is nothing

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. IO3

else than worldy, carnal notions, originating in our
own head and reason, wherewith we. tickle our-
selves and thus actually rot in them, as in a mass
of natural, stinking, rotten flesh, upon which salt-
ing and rebuking are thrown away.

From this you see how much importance is at-
tached to this matter, so that Christ with good
reason treats of it here, before all the rest, and
commends it so earnestly. For without this
Christendom cannot exist, and Christ cannot en-
dure, nor can there be proper thinking or living:
so that there is indeed no great injury or corruption
of Christendom, except where the salt, wherewith
everything else should be seasoned and salted, has
lost its savor. And this happens so easily. For it
is a poison of such a kind that it is pleasant to take,
and exactly suits the old Adam. For he does not
like to stand in such danger, risk life and limb or
suffer persecution, disgrace and defamation.

Hence our bishops and clergy are the shrewdest
people upon earth, in this matter, (though they are
not good enough to be called salt that has lost its
savor, but are the very devil himself, for they do
not at all attend to their bishop's office, but
are themselves the greatest persecutors); for they
preach in such a way, as to keep out of danger,
and have money and property, besides honor and
power; for whoever has to rebuke the world at large,
emperors, kings, princes, wise men, learned men,

I04 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

and say that their way of living is damned before
God, he must have his head taken off. But if I act
the hypocrite before them, and say they are all
right, then I go scot free, keep my favor and honor,
etc., and meantime flatter. myself that I mean nev-
ertheless along with this to preach the gospel. But
despite all that, I have become salt that has lost its
savor. For in that way I let the people stick in
their own old crazy notion and carnality, so that
they go to the devil, and I at the head of them.

This ofBce thus encounters many temptations
and hindrances, both on the right and left, so that
many keep silence either through fear of the danger
of harm and persecution, or for the sake of honor,
property or enjoyment. Besides, we are weak,
lazy and averse to this duty, so that we are easily
led to neglect it, and grow weary, when we see
that things do not go as we like, and it looks as
though it were of no use, and the people act con-
temptuously, yes, even become worse the more we
rebuke them.

Therefore we must be firmly set against all this,
and have respect only to the command of Christ,
who imposes this office upon us, and means that
we are to open our mouths promptly, and rebuke
what is to be rebuked; paying no attention to our
own danger, inconvenience or advantage and en-
joyment, neither to the malice and contempt of
other people, and take comfort from the fact that

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. IO5

te makes us his salt, and will support us in doing
our duty. And he commands us confidently to
salt, without giving heed to it or allowing our-
selves to be alarmed about it, whether the world
will not endure it, and consequently persecute us;
nor are we to despair although, as we think, we
are accomplishing nothing. For what he com-
mands us to do, we should be pleased and satisfied
with, and let him decide what and how much he
may accomplish through us. If the people will
not hear or accept it, we are nevertheless salt, and
have done our official duty. Then we can with all
honor and cheerfulness stand before the bar of God
and testify that we have faithfully told every man
his duty, and have stuck nothing under the bench,
so that they have no excuse, as if they did not un-
derstand, and it had not been told them.

But those who allow themselves to be scared, and
are silent for the sake of favor, honor or worldly
good, they will have at the last day to hear it said
of them: This was our preacher, and he did not
tell us of it; and he will not excuse them, although
they say: Lord, they would not hear. For Christ
will say in reply: Do you not know that I com-
manded you to salt, and diligently warned you to
do it; ought you not to have feared my word more
than them? This ought in all conscience to alarm
us. For here you hear the sentence that he pro-
nounces upon all such salt that has lost its savor,
and says:

I06 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

V. 13. ''It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out
and to be trodden underfoot of men."

That is as much as to say: They shall not have
a good time of it even here upon earth, but shall
be completely rejected by Christ as those who no
longer belong to him, and shall never be his
preachers nor belong to Christendom, wholly cast
out and robbed of all fellowship in heaven and with
all saints; although they may retain the name, and
are held in high honor by the people as the best
preachers and holiest people upon earth; as was the
case in the papacy at the time when it was the
most pious and holy, (not as now, when it has
grown to be a worldly imperialism and a spiritual
devils' government,) when the pope himself
preached and ruled the churches, and had every-
thing admirably arranged, and brought under set-
tled rules and regulations, (as St. Gregory did, and
some before and after him,) which all the world
held to be the best government, and the holiest
form of worship that could be established upon
earth, and yet it was all of no account.

For there was no salt there, by which this should
have been brought to the test of the word of God,
and should have been rebuked, as being our own
self-devised holiness ; but all the world praised
and sanctioned it, and thus gave encouragement
to those who were arrogantly presumptuous and
trusted in it, as if they were leading a truly blessed

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. I07

life and were a holy class; as it also praises and ex-
alts St. Gregory himself, so that, although he was
a holy man (as I regard him) yet he accomplished
no good b}'^ his teaching, and yet made so fair a
show that no one can find fault with it, so that, if
they could now bring back matters and restore
them to what they were, nobody would dare say a
word against it, or he would have to be called the
vilest heretic that ever was.

This is now one part of the warning, namely, if
the salt have lost its savor it is no longer of any
use. The other part sounds still more terrible,
when he pronounces the sentence upon it, that we
are to let it be "cast out and trodden under foot of
men." If the true salt, that is the true interpre-
tation of Scripture, has disappeared, by which the
whole world should be rebuked, and which should
let nothing avail but only simple faith in Christ,
then it is all over, and all our teaching and re-
buking does no more good. For God has already
rejected and damned both the teaching and the liv-
ing, the master and the pupil.

In short, if this point concerning Christ be not in-
sisted upon, that we are justified and saved through
him alone, and if we do not hold all else, aside from
him as damned, all resistance and restraint is at an
end, yes, there is no measure or limit of all heresy
and error, of all sects and parties, when everybody
invents and scatters abroad something peculiar of

I08 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

his own; as used to be the case among us under the
Pope, when no monk could have a dream without
dragging it into the pulpit, and making a special
divine service out of it, and no lies were so shame-
ful that they were not accepted, if only any one
ventured to take them into the pulpit; until at last
things went so far that not only Christ was lost,
but God besides, and they themselves believed
hardly a single article of the faith any more, so that
I may say that in a hundred years there were few
Popes that believed a single article; just as it is now
in German countries, among those with whom the
article concerning Christ has disappeared and one
factious party and error after the other has arisen :
when one denies the sacrament, another baptism
and other articles, and many become altogether
Epicurean, who believe nothing at all, just like the
Popes and their cardinals at Rome, and so at last
become nothing but swine and kine, and die like
these.

Therefore, I have always exhorted, just as Christ
here does, that the salt remain salt, and lose not its
savor, that is, that we urgently insist upon the
principal article of the faith. For if this be ne-
glected, not one part can rightly remain, and all is
lost; there is no faith or understanding any more,
so that no one can give right instruction or advice.
In short, one must let everybody trample upon
him, that is (as above said,) no bacchanalian or

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 109

jackass is so contemptible, but that if he can only
invent something new, everybody will run after him
and believe it. For what have not the abominable
monks hitherto dared brazenfacedly to preach, and
beguile the people with their brotherhoods, little
prayers, rosaries, yes, with their scabby hoods, that
they put upon the dead, and therewith promise
them heaven? What is that else, than to let every
body trample upon you, and be at the mercy of
every preacher of lies? This comes from the devil's
getting possession of the heart and totally ruining
it with his rotten, damnable doctrines and super-
stition, so that Christ is gone, and the knowledge
of him is lost.

For if I cling to this, that Christ alone is my
righteousness and holiness, no monk will ever per-
sua4e or mislead me by his hood, rosary, this or that
work and childish human notion. For through
faith I am a judge of all imaginable conditions and
ways of living, so that I can condemn everything
that offers to show me anything else that is to avail
before God. But if I neglect this, and let the
treasure go, and am instructed to seek elsewhere
and otherwise to be pious, to conciliate God and
atone for sin, then I am already prepared for all
sorts of snares and nets of the devil, and to let
myself be led as he pleases; then presently comes
some one who preaches to me: If you want to be
pious and serve God, then put on a hood, pray

no LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

daily so many rosaries, burn so many little candles
to St. Anna: then I fall in with this like a blind
man and everybody's fool and prisoner, and do
everything I am told, so completely that I cannot
defend myself from even the most trifling mistake.
See, Christ has himself here foretold this, and
given warning that so it would be; and no one Has
ever lived who knew just how to be on his guard
against it. And if we are not now wide awake,
and do not take good care that we firmly hold this
article, then it will happen to us also, that we hold
no article properly and purely, nor cease to err and
create factious parties until it is all over, and no
preaching or teaching will be of use any more, but
we shall stay swine and kine; as it is, alas! already
among the great mass, because of our despising the
gospel and being ungrateful for it.

V. 14, 15. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on
a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it
wider a bushel^ but on a candle-stick, and it giveth light unto
all that are in the house.

This is the other part of the office which he com-
mits to the dear apostles; that they are to be called,
and to be a light of the world, namely to instruct
souls and point them to eternal life; by this he sub-
jects the whole world to the apostles, that it is to
be and must be enlightened through them, and
concludes that it all, with everything that it can
do, is nothing but darkness and blindness. For if

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. Ill

it without this had a light that could enlighten it,
(as it indeed thinks it has,) why did he need the
apostles for this? Now see, if this is not a high,
excellent office, and an honor above all honor, that
everybody in the world, whether called kings,
princes, lords, learned men, wise men, holy men,
must sit down, and the apostles stand up, and all
must let their wisdom, holiness, etc., be rebuked
and condemned, as those who do not know what to
teach or how to live, or how they are off with God.
But here comes master Pope with his ugly
bishops, who want to be called the vicegerents of
Christ, and of the apostles; who undertake to master
the word of Christ, and depreciate the apostles,
where they drivel that it was not enough that the
apostles preached, and that the Holy Ghost sent
forth light through them, but we must hear and
heed the councils of the holy fathers, and the ordi-
nances of the Popes, who have taught much more
and better. But we are to know that Christ is not
such a juggler who talks with half words; but, be-
cause he calls them a light of the world, their
teaching alone must avail and be sufficient to en-
lighten all the world, so that one needs no other
light; yes, that what is apart from their teaching
is nothing but darkness. Although they may
shine long with their lantern, it is after all nothing
but mere laws devised by men concerning external
things which without their help everybody under-

112 luthek's commentary on the

stands, and could easily himself discover and make
so that one ought in fact to call them not lux
mundi [light of the world,] but lex Dei [law of
God], as those who undertake to govern God him-
self and his Christendom with their laws, just as
if they were much better than the apostles. They
obscure thus the light of the apostles with their
blind doctrine, with which they cannot properly
rebuke or instruct any man's conscience; as we see
in all the books of the Pope, and of all the univer-
sities, and so they cannot be called either salt or
light. For when they do their best, they rebuke
the gross, external things that have already been
condemned by secular law and the light of reason.
But the really hard knots and principal things, as
unbelief, false sanctity, they take no notice of, yes,
are themselves in them over head and ears.
Therefore their teaching is sheer nonsense, and
besides darkness and blindness, not to be able to
see anvthing higher to salt and to enlighten than
how one is to eat flesh or fish, to dress and behave
this or that way.

Therefore, it surely is and remains the office of
the apostles alone both to rebuke aright the real
internal vices, and again to heal, comfort and
cheer up all poor distressed consciences, and al-
low no one to go unrebuked in wrong-doing or
uninstructed and unencouraged in what is good.
Therefore Christ also here appoints and conse-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. II3

crates them as preachers, that we shall and must
hear them alone, and admit no other factions spir-
its whom the devil brings in alongside of them,
who claim to be the salt and light, yes, even to
lord it over Christ, and scream out, the doctrine
of faith amounts to nothing, one must aim higher,
and otherwise afflict one's self, so that one suffers
and mortifies himself; which, if one looks at it on
all sides, is nothing but being taught about our own
doing, and yet never amounts to showing what is
unbelief and rebuking the real arrogant vices that
are sticking in that same doctrine, with which they
set themselves up as -salt and light; they do not
stop with the calling and command which he here
gives to the apostles and says: Ye shall be the
light; at this alone we aim, that we may be sure
of this, and confidently say, that Christ has conse-
crated us to this, and has made it the duty of
Christians to salt and shine by virtue of our office
and by divine command.

For this is also for this reason necessary, because
' Christ mea;is that this office shall be exercised not
secretly or in only one place, but openly, through-
out the world; and he shows them plainly enough,
what they have to expect from the world, when he
says: "a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle and set it under a
bushel," etc. That is as much as to say: He who
wants to be a light must see to it that he do

114 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

not creep into a corner, but stand forth publicly
and be not afraid. For so it goes, as we said be-
fore, that those who are called to be apostles, and
shine, do not like to come to the front, allow them-
selves to be frightened off by threats, danger, per-
secution, or are befooled with friendship, favor,
honor and worldly good, so that they do not come
forward and open their mouths, but creep into cor-
ners, hide behind the hills, and shut up their
whistles.

So it is with our clergy who sit in t)ffice; and
they are ordered to stand up before Christendom
and publicly shine with their teaching; but they
hide it under the bench, yes, have become worse
than that, for they are the very ones that persecute
the word, and want to put out the light, and only
stir up against it emperors, kings and the whole
world; at the same time they sit in the house and
want to rule alone the church, have possession of
pulpit, baptism, sacrament, and everything that
belongs to the calling- and office. But this is what
the apostles predicted, that shepherds should be-
come wolves, and Antichrist should sit in the tem-
ple of God, and exalt himself above everything
that is called God and is worshipped.

In contrast with these are the other factious spir-
its, who have no calling to this office, who might
well remain at home in the corner; they want to
push themselves in everywhere and be the only

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. II5

ones to shine, so that everybody must hear them
and look to them. But these, too, seek only theteby
their own honor, and they preach only so long as
the people hang on to them and they need fear no
danger. But if they were to stand as true preachers,
to whom the office is entrusted, and steadily shine in
public, letting no wind or weather frighten or si-
lence them, they would soon disappear and let no-
body be found at home. So the dear office of the
ministry has to be treated on both sides, that either
those neglect it who should exercise it, or those
want to exercise it who have not been called to it ;
and so it is never properly attended to, except when
Christ provides such persons as he here describes
and has prepared beforehand, as above.

He means now here to say: If you wish to be
my preachers, you must be really prepared to take
your place publicly and stand up before the world,
as upon a high mountain, that you may be readily
seen and openly heard, concealing nothing or hid-
ing it under the bench, that you ought to preach,
neither keeping silence or speaking out of love to
any one; but, as you are the light, shining openly
and free, without regard to honor or shame, wealth
or poverty, hatred or favor, death or life; and know
that you are serving me, who has appointed you to
be the light. Such would then be the right kind
of people, who do not let themselves be bent to the
one side or to the other; as Psalm xlv. says con-

ii6 Luther's commentary on the

cerning the office of the ministry: "The sceptre of
thy'kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest right-
eousness and hatest wickedness," etc.

This is the virtue and glory of the gospel and its
preachers. For all other teachings are free from
danger, they all preach what people like to hear
and what is agreeable to reason, they need not fear
that any one will persecute them. But this teach-
ing is everywhere opposed, because it will come to
the front and show that the light and teaching of
the world is of no account; then^they try in every
way to obscure for us this light, and push it into a
corner, or throw it under a bushel, so that we may
drop our teaching, or recant and let ourselves be
bent and interpreted as they may please. But we
will not let ourselves be driven from onr position,
but will continue to be a city upon a hill, and the
light upon the candlestick in the house. For he
who has made us the light will surely keep us as
such. Therefore he now concludes:

V. i6. Let your light so shine before men that they may see
your good works and glorify your Father ^vhich is in heaven.

See how earnestly he urges the exhortation,
which he would have no need to do, if there were
not great danger and occasion for it; and it is as
much as to say: They will try to obscure your light,
and will not endure it; but only be bold and in good
heart against them, so tV.at you may accomplish

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. • II7

only this much, that you do not creep under the
bushel, but perform honestly the duties of your
office, then I will see to it that they shall not thus
obscure it. For this is certain, so long as a Chris-
tian preacher stands in his lot and does his duty,
and can despise the world's abuse and persecution,
the office too must remain, and the gospel cannot
fall, because there are still those remaining who
hold to it; as there must be some abiding evermore,
even to the last day.

That is to say, however: "That they may see
your good works and glorify your Father which is
in heaven," is spoken after the manner of St. Mat-
thew, who is in the habit of speaking in this way
of works. For he, together with the other two
evangelists, Mark and Luke, does not in his gospel
treat so fully and profoundly upon the great subject
of Christ as St John and St. Paul. Therefore they
speak and exhort much about good works; as in-
deed both should in Christendom be insisted upon,
yet each in proportion to its nature and dignity:
that one should first and most of all hold forth
faith, and Christ, and afterwards inculcate works.
Since now the evangelist John has most thoroughly
and powerfully discussed the main topic, and is
rightly therefore regarded as the highest and fore-
most evangelist: Matthew, Luke and Mark have
treated and strongly urged the other side, so that it
should not be forgotten; so that in this matter they
are better than John, and he again in the other.

Il8 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

But you must not look at what is said and taught
about works in such a way as to separate faith from
them, as they are docked by our blind teachers:
but always connect them with faith, so that they
are incorporated with it, spring from faith and
move with it, and are praised and called good be-
cause of it; as I have often taught. So also here,
when he says: that they may see your good works,
you must not regard them as mere trifling works,
without faith, as the good works of our clergy have
hitherto been; but as such works that faith per-
|- forms, and that cannot be done without faith. For
I by good works here he means the practicing, illus-
1 trating and confessing the teaching concerning

' Christ, and suffering for doing it. For he speaks
of those works with which we shine. But shining
is the proper office of faith or teaching, whereby we
help others also to believe.

Therefore it is works of the highest and best
character, just those from which it must necessarily
follow, as he here says, that our heavenly Father is
honored and praised. For this teaching or preach-
ing takes from us all the glamour of holiness, and
says, there is nothing good in us whereof we can
boast. And besides, it interests the conscience,
how it is to deal with God, exhibits to it the grace
and mercy of God, and the entire Christ: that is, it
truly reveals and praises God, which is also the

rtrue sacrifice and worship. These works are to be

SERMON ON THE MOUNT, II9

the first and most important, that are followed also
by those that are called works of love, in daily life
and outward treatment of our neighbor; these shine
also, but only in so far as they are begun and car-j
ried on in faith.

Now you can yourself conclude that St. Matthew
here is not to be understood concerning the com-
mon works which every one is to do towards his
neighbor, from love, of which he speaks in Matt.
XXV. ; but chiefly of the true Christian work, iiamdy
correct teaching, insisting upon faith and showing
how to strengthen and keep it, whereby we testify
that we are true Christians. For the others are not
so reliable, since even sham Christians can bedeck
and hide themselves under great, beautiful works of
love.- But to teach and confess Christ truly is not 7
possible without faith; as St. Paul says, I Cor. xii.
3: "No one can call Jesus Lord except by the I
Holy Ghost.". For no sham Christian or factious
spirit can understand this doctrine; how much less
can he properly preach and confess it, although he
uses the words and echoes them, and yet does not
adhere to them or let them be clear? — preaching al-
ways in such a way that one sees he does not under-
stand it, smears his slobber over it, by which he
steals the honor from Christ and appropriates it to
himself.

For this alone is the surest work of a true Christ-
ian, if he so praises and preaches Christ that the

120 ll'Tiihr's commentary on the

«

people learn this, how they are nothing- and Christ
is everything. In short, it is snch a work that is
done not with reference to one or two, when it re-
mains hidden as other works; but publicly before
the whole world to shine and let itself be seen, and
alone for this reason is also persecuted. (For other
works they can very well endure.) Therefore it is
properly called such a v/ork by which our Father
is recognized and praised. This the other less im-
portant works cannot attain to, that have to do
only with our fellow-men, and belong to the second
table of the law. These have to do with the first
three great commandments that refer to God's
honor, name and word; and besides they must be
well tested and purified by persecution and suffer-
ing, that they may endure; also be defamed before
the world that they may remain free from the desire
of personal honor, and from arrogance, and be so
much the more praised before God, as his honor
and praise are thereby assailed [i. e. by works
courting self-praise, personal honor, etc.]. There-
fore, too, they stand most securely, so that God the
more vigorously defends them, and makes them
effective over against the violent persecutions of
the world. Therefore we should give these works
the decided preference as by far the most import-
ant, and afterward perform the others also as be-
tween ourselves and our fellow-men, that so both
may have their due — that we first of all constantly

SKRMON ON THE MOUNT, 121

teach and insist upon faith, and tlien live accord-
ingly, and thus everything that we do is of faith;
as I have always taught.

V. 17. Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the
prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.

Because Christ the Lord entrusted and strongly
commended the office to the apostles, he now goes
further and himself begins both to salt and to
shine as an example for them, that they may know
what they are to preach; and attacks both the
teaching and the life of the Jews, to rebuke and to
reform their wrong notions and doings; although
here, as I have said, he does not treat of the great
principal doctrine of faith; but first he begins below,
and rightly explains and extols the law, which was
greatly obscured and perverted by their Pharisees
and Scribes. For that is also a very important
matter, that one should make the teaching of God's
commands clear and set them forth correctly.

But it is a sharp, unendurable salt, that he at-
tacks and condemns these people as neither teach-
ing nor living aright, and finds fault with them in
everything, who were yet the very best and holiest,
who were daily teaching the commands of God,
and were exercising themselves in holy worship,
etc., so that no one could rebuke them; he gave
them thereby occasion to fiercely exclaim against
him, and to accuse him of wishing to undermine

122 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

and destroy the law which God had given, etc. :
just as the Pope and his crowd cry out against us,
and denounce us as heretics who forbid the doing
of good works. So he foresaw very well that he
would be thus charged, and that his teaching
would be interpreted in this way. Therefore he
anticipates with a preface and explanation that/it
is not his intention to undermine the law; but that
he is here for the very purpose of rightly teaching
and confirming it against those who would weaken
it by their teaching.

For there was surely need of such a statement,
on account of the high reputation that they had,
and in view of the excellent show that they knew
how to make and dress up, that they alone were
the people of God, that they had so many prophets
and holy fathers, that whoever ventured to rebuke
them would have to hear at once: Who art thou,
that thou wilt be alone wise and blame everybody,
as though our fathers and we have all been in
error, who have the word of God and preach it?
Just as the whole world is now howling at us, and
saying we condemn the holy fathers and the whole
Church that surely cannot err, because it is ruled
by the Holy Ghost, etc. Because thou art blaming
our doctrine and life, this is a sign that thou con-
demnest both the law and the prophets, the fathers
and the whole people.

To this now Christ replies: No, I will surely not

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 123

destroy the law or the prophets, but I hold them in
honor and insist upon their observance more
earnestly and diligently than you do; yes, so earn-
estly that heaven and earth shall pass away before
I will allow a letter or the smallest tittle to perish
or to have been written in vain; yes, I will still
further say, that whosoever despises the very least
commandment or teaches otherwise, he shall on
account of this very smallest thing in the kingdom
of heaven be rejected, although he rightly kept all
the rest. Therefore we agree upon this point, that
we are strictly to teach and observe Moses and the
prophets; but the point now is, since we both are
required to and wish to teach the law (as also now
both parties, viz. the Pope together with the other
crowds, and we appeal to the same Scriptures, ex-
alt at the same time the one gospel and word of
God), that one may be sure which side rightly holds
and interprets the Scriptures or the laws of God, or
which does not. About this there is dispute. Here
I must salt and rebuke. For the Jews with their
glosses have perverted and corrupted the law: and
I have come to set things right again; just as we
have had to attack the preachings of the Pope, that
have corrupted for us the Scriptures with their
stench and filth.

He does not thereby deny that they are the peo-
ple of God, and have the law, the fathers and the
prophets; just as we do not deny or condemn the

124 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

Christians, baptism, gospel, that were under the
Pope, but we say, it is the right baptism, gospel,
etc., that we have. But we fight against accepting
what they have daubed over them, and approving
of the way in which they interpret and pervert
them, and- have defiled the pure doctrine with their
nasty and maggoty, yes devilish appendage of their
hoods, tonsures, indulgences, purgatory, sacrificial
masses, etc. Here we have to salt and work, that
we may clear out this stench and make things
clean. So it appears that just those who are really
destroying the law and the Scriptures adorn them-
selves with the beautiful name of the Scriptures,
the gospel, the Christian Church, etc., and, under
this pretence, bring in their maggots, and have so
corrupted the church as to rob it of its value; and
then they make an ado about us, that we are assail-
ing the Christian Church, the holy fathers, good
works, etc.

He now says: I am not come to destroy the law,
but to fulfill it; that is, I will not bring another or
a new law, but will take the Scriptures that you
have and properly extol them, and explain them
in such a way that you may know how we are to
demean ourselves. For the Gospel or the preach-
ing of Christ does not bring a new doctrine which
neutralizes or changes the law; but just that (as St.
Paul says) which was promised before in the Scrip-
tures and by the prophets. We accept, therefore,

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 125

from those who are with us the very same Scrip-
tures, baptism, sacraments, etc., which they have,
and do not wish to propose anything new or better.
But this we do for the sole purpose that the same
may be rightly preached and treated, and that
whatever does not accord with it may be taken out
of the way.

St. Augustine explains the word "fulfill" in
two ways; first, that fulfilling the law means when
one adds to the law what it lacks; and secondly,
when one fulfills it by working and living. But
the first explanation is wrong. For the law is in
itself so rich and perfect that one need add nothing
to it. For the apostles themselves had to prove the
gospel and the preaching concerning Christ out of
the Old Testament. Therefore no one, not even
Christ himself, can improve the law. For what
can be devised or taught higher than the teaching
of the first commandment: Thou shalt love God
with all thy heart, etc. ? He does this, however,
that he gives in addition to the law and the doc-
trine his grace and Spirit, so that one may do and
fulfill what the law demands; but that does not
mean adding anything to the law. And so he is
here not speaking about that, but of the fulfilling
that is done by teaching; just as he defines destroy-
ing, not as acting against the law by works, but as
detracting from the law by teaching.

Therefore we have the same truth here that St.

126 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

Paul utters in Rom. iii. 31: "Do we then make
void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we
establish the law," namely, that he does not mean
to bring- another doctrine, as though the former one
were no longer to avail; but he means to preach
and extol the same properly, to show the real
kernel and meaning of it, that they may learn what
j[__the law is and demands^ver against the glosses of
' the Pharisees, which they have inserted, and have
preached only the shells or husks of it. Just as we
may say to our papistic friends: we do not wish to
abolish your gospel or preach it differently, but to
clean it off and polish it, as a mirror that is dimmed
and soiled by your filth, so that nothing more
than the name of the gospel is left, but no one
could rightly see anything in it: so the Jewish
teachers kept the text of the law, but with their
additions so corrupted it that no correct under-
standing or use of it could remain.

V. 18. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth
pass, one jot or tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all
befulfilled.

That is, I insist upon it, that it must all be
taught and held pure and entire, and not the least
part of it be done away; whereby he shows that he
found it far otherwise, namely, that both doctrine
and life had not been rightly conducted. There-
fore he must (as here follows) take in hand both of
these and thoroughly salt them, that there may be

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 12']

a purification. So also must we teach that we do
not allow a letter to be detached from the gospel,
but say: Everything must be taught, believed and
held purely. He thus intimates that he is about
to preach a sharp sermon, and will not lie under
the charge that he means to destroy the law; but
will turn the attack from himself upon them, and
prove how they have weakened and destroyed the
law, and for this have daubed their glosses over it.
Ju'st as our papistic neighbors have done with the
gospel and the Scriptures, when they utterly ig-
nored the most important topic, justification by
faith; also, they have withheld one form from the'
sacrament and concealed the words of the sacra-
ment; yes, they have so coarsely misrepresented,
that they have preached these commandments
which Christ here announces, not as necessary
statutes, but as merely good counsels, directly con-
trary to these words and stipulations, that sooner
heaven and earth must pass away than that one
of the least of these be not observed. Thereupon
he at once passes an earnest sentence upon such
preachers, as follows:

V. 19. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least com-
vtandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least
in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach
them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

I will be so positive about these (says he) that I
riot only will not break any of them; but whoever

128 lutpier's commentary on the

is a preacher, and annuls or ignores the very small-
est part, let him know that he is not a preacher of
mine, but is damned and shall be turned out of
heaven. For that he says, he shall be called the
least in the kingdom of heaven, is nothing else
than that he shall not be in the kingdom of heaven;
but, as he holds it to be a small matter that he de-
spises God's command, so shall he also be despised
and rejected.

All the preachers of the gospel must also be pre-
pared to make the same boast before all the world;
as we can confidently challenge our opponents to
show us a passage or article of the Scriptures that
we suppress or do not rightly preach. For they
themselves had to testify at the Diet of Augsburg
that our confession is purely scriptural, and not
opposed to any article of the faith. But they are
making a great ado about this only, that we do not
also hold their peculiar notions that the Councils
and Popes have sanctioned, and we are to be
damned because we do not like their nasty maggots
and rotten human trifles.

Although we have always shown ourselves ready
to work with them, and indeed could still do it, if
they would allow us the liberty and diversity, that
it is not necessary to salvation Hor contrary to the
gospel, whether one omits anything or shares in it
to please them, as any other free, unnecessary
thing, that neither helps nor hinders us; as when,

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 129

for instance, in the carnival season one shares in
the mummery. But this they will not admit; and
so we cannot do otherwise, nor give up Christ our
Saviour (who has shown and bestowed upon us more
kindness through his dear suffering and death,
than the Pope, Franciscus, Dominicus, or any saint)
for the sake of their rotten notions that can benefit
or help nobody. If they would grant us this lib-
erty, we would try to observe everything with them
that they demand of us, and even better than they
do themselves.

But because they are not satisfied with this, but
want to compel us to forsake Christ and the pure
doctrine which they themselves cannot find fault
with, we despise them, as condemned and rejected
by Christ, with both their doctrine and life, as those
who not only corrupt but absolutely nullify a word
or command of God, in that they shamelessly teach
that it is not necessary to love God with all the
heart; also, that one honors his parents, if he wants
to go into a monastery or give to the Church his
money with which he might keep his parents;
so also, any one may desert his espoused bride and
go into a monastery. In short, everything that the
Lord here demands according to the command of
God, they have declared to be unnecessary, as
though this were merely good advice or works of
supererogation, etc.

Hence you see what an excellent sort of Christ-

130 Luther's commentary ox the

ian teachers and holy people they are, who dare to
annul and destro}' recklessly all the commands of
God, and yet want to go scot free, and venture to
require it of us, yes, with threats and force try to
drive us to hold their human nonsense to be neces-
sary, and, if we do not accept and praise this, they
assail us with horrible edicts and all sorts of furious
rage. Now calculate for yourself what Christ will
say to it, since he here pronounces so severe a
sentence, that he shall have no part in his kingdom
who breaks one of the least of these command-
ments, although he teaches and keeps all the rest
exactly. Where do you think is the place for
them, except in the glowing fire of hell, where it is
the deepest? For there never has risen such a
shameful people upon earth, who so shamelessly
treated the word of God, which they know to be
right, and still wish to be held in honor as Chris-
tians that are leaders. Therefore beware of them,
and let no one be frightened by their damning,
persecution and raging. For here we have the
consolation that those who teach purely and truly
the word of God, and adhere to that, shall be great
with Christ in the kingdom of heaven, although
that crowd curses them to the bottom of hell.

I omit, however, here to say how the law must
be fulfilled, so that no letter or tittle of it pass, etc.,
whilst we still teach that no man can fulfill it.
For I have said that Christ is here speaking partic-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. I3I

nlarly not concerning the life, but concerning the
doctrine; and he is not discussing the great subject
what he is and what he gives to us, namely, that
we cannot be justified or saved by the works of the
law, but thereby only come to the knowledge of
ourselves, how we are not able to fulfill properly a
tittle of it of ourselves. And although after we
have become Christians by baptism and faith, we
do as much as we can, we still can never thereby
stand before God; but must always humbly find
our way to Christ, who has most purely and per-
fectly fulfilled it all, and bestows himself with his
fulfillment of it upon us, so that through him we
may stand before God, and the law cannot hold us
guilty or condemn us. So that it is true that all
must come to pass and be fulfilled even to the
smallest tittle; but only by this one man, of which
enough is said elsewhere.

V. 20. For I say unto you that except your righteousness
shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye
shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaveti.

Here you see how he plunges in and antagonizes
not ordinary people, but the very best in the whole
nation, who were the true kernel and quintessence,
and shone before .the rest like the sun, so that there
was no more highly esteemed class nor more honor-
able name among the people than that of the Phar-
isees and Scribes; and if one wanted to name a holy
man, he would have to name a Pharisee; just as

132 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

among us the Carthusians or hermits were called:
as the disciples of Christ no doubt themselves be-
lieved that there was no greater holiness to be
found than among these, and they least of all ex-
pected that he would assail these people. Nor did
he venture at once to mention names, and blame
certain persons among them, but the whole class;
and he rebukes also not certain evil practices or
sins, but their righteousness and holy living; so
completely, indeed, that he denies and closes the
kingdom of heaven against them, and condemns
them at once to hell fire. Just as if he now said:
All priests and monks, and all that are called spir-
itual, without exception, are eternall}' damned to
hell, with all their system, where it is the best.
Who could hear or endure such a sermon? That
is now one thing that he acknowledges, that they
have a righteousness, and lead a correct, honorable
life; and yet he so completely rejects it, that if it be
not better than that, it is already condemned, and
all is lost that one can accomplish by it.

Secondly, notice, that he is treating of those
who wish to get to heaven, and who seriously think
about another life, which the other great rude mass
do not regard, nor do they ask about God and his
word, to whom everything that we say about the
gospel is preached in vain. But these are preached
to, that they may know, that such righteousness is
false, which one must salt and rebuke, as that with

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 1 33

which they deceive both themselves and others,
and lead to hell from the right road, and that they
may consider, on the other hand, what the true
piety is which the law demands; as Christ now
presently will show.

V. 21. Ye have heard that it was said to the»i of olden time,
Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill, shall be in danger
of the judgment.

Here he takes up several of the Ten Command-
ments, to explain them properly, and shows how
the Pharisees and Scribes gave no further explana-
tion of them and attached no further significance to
them than lies in the mere words, as referring to
external gross works. So, in the first place, in this
fifth commandment they saw nothing more than the
word kill, that means strike dead with the hand ;
and they let the people stop short with that, as if
nothing further were here forbidden, and as if
besides a convenient shield were provided, so that
they would not be guilty of the killing, though one
handed over another person to death. So, when
they delivered Christ to the heathen Pilate, they
would not defile their hands with blood, that they
might continue to be pure and holy; and they were
so strict, that they would not even go into the palace
of the judge; and yet it was they alone who caused
his death, and forced Pilate against his will that he
had to kill him. Yet they acted as if they were en-
tirely clean and innocent, so that they even blamed

134 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

the apostles in regard to it, and said: "You intend to
bring this man's blood upon us;" as though they
should say: It was not we, but the heathen, that
killed him. So we read about king Saul in i Sam.
xviii. 25. He disliked David, and would gladly
have killed him; but as he wanted to be holy, he
thought he would not kill him himself, but send
him among the Philistines, that he might be killed
there, and his hand not be defiled with his blood.

See, that is the beautiful Pharisee-holiness, that
can make itself clean, and stay pious, if it only
does not slay with its own hand, although the heart
is sticking full of wrath, hatred and envy, and
secret evil and murderous designs, and the tongue
besides full of cursing and blasphemy; just as is the
case with the holiness of our papists, who have
become real masters in this business; and, that
their holiness may not be rebuked nor they be
bound by the words of Christ, they have come
liandsomely to his assistance, and have deduced
twelve counsels from his words, that Christ has not
commanded all this as necessary, but has left it at
the option of every one to be observed as good ad-
vice, whoever wishes to merit something special
above others; that it is instruction altogether su-
perfluous, that one can easily dispense with.

But if you ask them for what reason they have
invented these recommendations, or how they prove
them, they say: Why, if one should teach thus

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 1 35

that would mean nimis onerativimi legis cJirist-
ianae^ that is, Christian people would be too heav-
ily burdened; as those at Paris have openly and
boldly written against me. Yes, truly, a beautiful
reason and a grievous burden, that a Christian
should be friendly towards his neighbor, and not
let him be in need, as every one wishes to be
treated. And because they think it too burden-
some, it must not be said to have been commanded,
but left at every one's option to be done or not as
one may choose; but he who cannot or will not do
it shall not be burdened with it. Thus we are to
twist the mouth of Christ, master his words, and
make out of them whatever we please. But he
will not allow himself to be deceived in this way,
nor will he recall his sentence that he has here pro-
nounced saying: whosoever has not a better piety,
shall find heaven shut against him, and be damned,
and as follows afterwards, also, he shall be deserv-
ing of hell-fire who says to his brother. Thou fool;
from which we may easily conclude whether it was
recommended or commanded.

And here they have also discovered a little gloss,
to help their lies, and thus they say, it was indeed
commanded to refrain from anger and spite in the
heart, but not from the tokens of wrath, that is, as
we say in German, to forgive, but not to forget,
and to have the idea that you will not be angry ot
do anything bad, and yet withhold all kindness from

136 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

your neighbor and bestow upon him no good word
or token of friendship. Here ask of God himself
and Christ, why he did not withhold this kindness
from those who crucified him, reviled and most
shamefully blasphemed him, but prayed for them
and said: Father, forgive them, for they know not
what they do, although they were the most shame-
less villains, who deserved the fiercest wrath and
punishment. Yes, if he had been angry at us in
that way, who were his enemies and practiced all
manner of idolatry and ungodliness, he would have
had to stay up there in heaven and not shed his
blood and die for us, but say after the manner of
this little gloss: I will forgive, indeed, but I will
not forget. Meanwhile we should all have contin-
ued to be the devil's own, and no man could have
escaped going to hell. In short, it is absolutely a
disgraceful, cursed little gloss, and in fact a sin and
a shame, that any one in Christendom has dared to
teach this, in the face of such a clear and open
text; yet they have daubed all their books full of
these lies, and are trying now besides brazenfacedly
to defend them. But hereby we are to see and
recognize our Pharisees and hyprocrites, with their
great sanctity, which they profess with many
special works, but at the same time witho-ut hesi-
tation transgress the commands of God and also
teach others to do the same; as Christ here and else-
where depicts them.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. I37

It is indeed true, that one must be angry, if those
do it whose duty it is, and if the anger does not go
farther than to rebuke sin and what is evil; as,
when one sees another sin, admonishes and warns
him, that he may refrain from it, etc. That is a
Christian and brotherly, yes, a fatherly anger. For
you see in the case of pious parents, that they do
not punish their children in such a way that they
mean to do them harm or injury, but that badness
may be repressed and e\ul averted; so also the pow-
ers that be are to be wrathful and punish. Here
it is indeed right that one should have no anger in
his heart, and yet must show signs and tokens of
anger, since both the word and the fist are rough
and sharp, but the heart remains sweet and friendly
and knows of no spite. In short, it is the anger of
love that wishes harm to no one, but is a friend of
the person, whilst hostile to the sin, as even nature
may teach every one. But it will not do to abuse
this as a shield, and hide and dress up under it
spite and envy in the heart against our neighbor;
as those knavish saints do and teach.

So Jesus now takes up this command, and means
to say this: You have thus heard from the Phari-
sees how Moses commanded, and of old it was thus
taught: Thou shalt not kill, etc. Therewith you
tickle yourselves and deck yourselves out, take on
airs as those who diligently teach, and observe "the
laws of God as they are taught from Moses, and

138 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

were received by them of olden time; you take
your stand and insist upon it: There is Moses, he
says, Thou shalt not kill. You hold on to that
word, and won't let it mean anything else than just
as it sounds in the plainest sense, so that the
simple-minded must say: "It is true; that's the way
it stands in the book;" thus you darken the word
with your continual bawling and your foul glosses,
so that one does not see what the words really con-
tain and mean. For do you think that he is
speaking only of the fist where he says: Thou
shalt not kill? What does he mean \>y yoii? Not
only your hand, foot, tongue, or any other single
member; but all that you are, body and soul. Just
as when I say to any one: You shall not do this; I
speak not with the fist, but with the whole person.
Yes, even if I should say: Thy fist shall not do it,
I mean not the hand alone, but the whole person to
whom the hand belongs; for the hand alone would
do nothing if the whole body with all its members
did not cooperate.

Therefore, Thou shalt not kill, is as much as to
say: You may find as many ways to kill as you
have members of the body, by your hand, tongue,
heart, by signs and gestures, by angrily looking at
any one, by begrudging him his life, by your eyes
or even by your ears — if you don't like to hear him
spoken of, that all means killing. For then your
heart and all there is about you is so disposed that

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. I39

you would be glad if he were already dead, and
although meanwhile your hand is quiet, your
tongue is silent, your eyes and ears are muffled,
yet your heart is full of murder and manslaughter.

V. 22. But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his
brother shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall
say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; but
whosoever shall say: Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Behold, this is the true light, that shows the true
meaning of this commandment, and that puts to
shame their foul gloss, as a dark lantern in contrast
with the bright sun, and it now shines with such a
different appearance, that they are presently amazed
and say, That is teaching with authority, and not
as their scribes. Although this explanation is clear
enough, and elsewhere often treated of, we must
yet here for the sake of the text expand the words
a little. In the first place he says: He who is
angry with his brother is in danger of the judg-
ment; that is, he has merited the same punishment
that is inflicted upon a murderer, namely, that he
should be condemned to death. For he repeats the
very words that stand in the text, Lev. xxiv. 17
(which he now himself has quoted): He that kill-
eth any man shall surely be put to death. Because
now he who is angry with his brother comes under
the same sentence, he is also properly called a
murderer. In the second and third statement :
Whosoever saith to his brother, Raca, or. Thou

140 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE "

fool, is in danger of the council and of hell fire, he
means the same thing as to be in danger of the
judgment, namely, that he is in danger of being
put to death.

But he mentions three particulars, to show how
the punishment becomes greater and more severe
the more the sin continues and reveals itself For
he speaks as in a process before the court, when a
criminal is to be punished. As namely, when one
has committed murder, he is in danger of the
judgment, that is, he is brought before the court,
indicted, and a charge is brought against him, as
one who has caused death. That is the first grade
or step towards death; yet the sentence has not yet
been passed, so that he still may have room to vin-
dicate himself and be acquitted. Secondly, when
however the sentence has been passed that he is to
die, then he is in danger of the council, so that a
consultation is held concerning him, what kind of
punishment is to be meted out to him; then he is
again nearer to death, so that he cannot escape.
Thirdly, when the sentence of death has now been
passed, and all has been determined upon, he is
handed over to the executioner, that he may take
him away and perform his official duty. So he in-
dicates by these steps, how one sinks deeper and
deeper into punishment; just as he who is to be exe-
cuted draws steadily nearer and nearer to death.
Therefore, it is as if it were said: He who is angry

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. I4I

in heart is already deserving of death before God;
but he who goes further and says: Raca, or, Thou
fool, has already had sentence pronounced upon
him, etc. In short, he is already damned to hell-
fire who is angry with his brother. But he who
says Raca, deserves to go still deeper into hell; still
deeper, however, he who kills also with words and
fist. So the punishment and condemnation is en-
tirely one and the same, and yet the same is heavier
and more severe as the sin progresses and breaks
out more fiercely.

As to the meaning of Raca, we are told that it
signifies all sorts of indications that show our
anger against our neighbor: as when one neither
speaks to or looks at him ; or when one is pleased
and secretly rejoices when it goes ill with him; or
where one in any way shows that he would be
really glad if his neighbor would be utterly ruined;
as there are now many of these poisonous, wretched
creatures, that array themselves most bitterly
against us, both publicly and by secret and treach-
erous practices, as those who would most gladly
hear that we were all exterminated, and yet they
pose as holy Christian people.

The other phrase: Thou fool, means not only the
various indications [above mentioned] but all the
words that come from a bad, poisonous heart, that
is hostile to its neighbor. Otherwise, if they come
from a kind, motherly heart, there is no sin. For

142 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

one may indeed rebnke and scold with words, as
St. Paul calls his Galatians fools, and Christ says
to his disciples: O fools, and slow of heart to be-
lieve; yes, not only this, but we must also be angry
and wear a stern and forbidding exterior. For this
is all a godly anger and vexation at the wrong, not
at the person, but for the benefit of our neighbor.
In short, it is a necessary anger, that cainiot be
dispensed with in any house, in any city and gov-
ernment, yes, in any pulpit. For should father,
mother, judge and preacher haul in mouth and fist,
and neither rebuke nor restrain the evil, govern-
ment and Christianity and everything would go to
destruction through the wickedness of the world.
So that the meaning here is: hate the cause, yet
love the person; as the jurists very well say, if they
only would make the right use of it.

V. 23, 24. Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and
there remeniberest that thy brother hath aught against thee,
leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be
reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

He makes a long sermon over this command,
which looks indeed like an easy text, but the vice
[here rebuked] is very wide-spread and common,
especially among high, mighty, wise people, as at
the courts of kings, lords and princes, and those who
are anything, or can accomplish anything upon
earth, they are most deeply involved in it, and yet
must not be blamed with it. For it wears a very

SERIMON ON THE MOUNT. 143

specious appearance, and nothing can dress itself up
so handsomely and adorn itself with the appearance
of sanctity, wherewith many people deceive them-
selves and others; and they do not see hov/ they
are at heart hostile to their neighbor, or cher-
ish a secret spite against him, and nevertheless
want to be pious, serve God, and, as he here says,
go to the altar and bring a sacrifice, supposing
that it is all right with them.

This is the way of it; they put on a handsome
appearance and stand under the cover of what is
called zelus jiistitiae [a zeal for justice,] a virtue
that loves justice and is indignant at evil and
cannot tolerate it; just as the sword and ruling
authority are appointed to administer righteousness
and punish wickedness; as also father and mother,
master and -mistress, must become angry and pun-
ish. Here comes now the pious villain, puts on his
little robe and says he does it out of love for right-
eousness, and has good and reasonable cause for
what he does: as now princes and others are brim-
full of poison, hatred and envy against our people,
live on in this spirit, make no conscience of it, and
the whole thing is nothing but "indulgences" and
"relics. " For they cover themselves with the
beautiful excuse, that they say they are hostile to
heresy, and they make a great virtue out of it, a
holy zeal and a love for the truth; and there is
at bottom nothing but a shameful, poisonous hatred

144 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

and spite, that cannot otherwise show and gratify
itself.

For I know, and may well say, that all onr oppo-
nents (except onr dear lord the Emperor, person-
ally, who has not been correctly informed abont
us,) neither have nor know any reason why they
should hate and be hostile to us, except mere envy
and mischief. For they make no charge against
us of any wrong-doing, that we are scamps or
scoundrels, or have injured them in any way; they
know too, and have had to confess it, that our
doctrine is the exact truth; yet they are so full of
poison that they would bear with the world full of
nothing but desperate villains rather than with us
and ours.

So there are many excellent, honorable, learned
and otherwise upright people, who are so filled
with anger, envy and hatred, and are so embittered
by it, that they are unconscious of it, and are fully
satisfied that they are doing it by virtue of their
office or for the sake of righteousness. For their
excuse is too plausible, and so delusive that no one
dare accuse them of being anything else than up-
right, pious people. So their hearts at last become
hardened, they strengthen and harden themselves
in the poisonous vice, and sin against the Holy
Ghost. For it is a two-fold wickedness; first that
the heart is full of anger, hatred and envy; sec-
ondly, that it is not acknowledged to be sin or evil,

SERMON ON THE MOUNT, 145

but is to be called virtue, wliicli is equivalent to
smiting God on the mouth and making him out a
liar.

Notice, for this reason Christ warns so diligently
that every one be specially careful at this point lest
he be deceived by this hypocrisy and false appear-
ance. For no one believes how such a simple
statement can be so far-reaching and affect such
great people. For by these words, as he says: "If
thou bring thy gift to the altar" he shows clearly
that he is speaking of those who serve God, and
claim to be the true children of God, and are re-
puted to be the best of all. What is wrong with
them, then? Nothing, except that their heart is
sticking full of hatred and envy. Dear friend, of
what account is it that you are incessantly fasting
and praying, giving all your money for God's sake,
and castigating vourself to death, and doing ever
so many good works, more than all the Carthusians,
whilst at the same time you ignore the command
of God that he wishes to be obeyed ? That you
make no conscience of reviling and calumniating
others, and yet wish to present a great sacrifice?
Just as if one had caused war and murder, and had
shed much blood, and afterward paid a thousand
ducats for having masses said for those who
were killed; or if some one had stolen a great sum
of money, and then would give alms for God's
sake. Thus they deceive God (yes, themselves)

14^ LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

willi the pretty pretence, that he must now regard
them as genuine living saints.

Therefore he says now: Do you wish to serve
God and present an offering, and have you injured
any one, or do you cherish anger against your
neighbor? then know at once that God will not ac-
cept your offering, but lay it right down, and drop
everything and go first of all and be reconciled
with your brother. By this he means now all
works that one can do to serve or praise God (for
in those days there was no better work than to offer
sacrifice); and he rejects it entirely, and commands
that it be dropped at once, unless your heart first
assures you that 3'ou are reconciled with your
neighbor and do not know of cherishing any ill-
will. If this be done, then come (says he), and
offer thy gift. This he adds, so that no one should
think that he wishes to reject or despise such a gift.
For it was not an evil act, but one ordered and
commanded by God; but that is evil, and utterly
spoils it all, that they disregard the higher com-
mands of God and despise them. That is making
an abuse of sacrifices against your neighbor.

There is also an abuse in regard to this matter
that is of more consequence — that one seeks thereby
to be saved, to atone for sin, and to rely upon it
and have confidence before God; of this we treat
elsewhere. In itself it is a good work; just as all
other works of public worship, as praying and fast-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. I47

iiig, are not to be despised or neglected, where their
intention and nse are proper, namely, that one does
not do them thereby to merit heaven, and when
the heart is all right towards our neighbor, and
thus both faith and love are pure and right. But
if thou prayest and fastest, and yet along with tliis
speakest evil of thy neighbor, defamest and slan-
derest people, thy mouth indeed speaks holy words
and eats nothing; but it meanwhile pollutes and
defiles itself with thy neighbor, against the com-
mand of God.

Therefore he rebukes and forbids such fasting in
Is. Iviii. 3, wherewith they mortified their bodies
and made pretence of great devotion, and he says:
Behold in the day of your fast ye find pleasure,
and exact all your labors. Ye fast for strife and
debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness:
ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your
voice to be heard on high, etc. And he further
teaches how we are to fast properly: Is not this
the fast that I have chosen ? to loose the bands af
wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens and to let
the oppressed go free, etc. Break thy bread to the
hungry, and when thou seest the naked, cover
him, etc. Here you see how he is chiefly con-
cerned about our love for our neighbor.

V. 25, 26. Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art
in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee
to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be

148 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

cast into prison . Vcrily\ I say uttto thee, Thou shall by no means
come out thence, till thou hast paid the tittermost farthing .

In the previous text he preached to him who had
injured his neighbor or was angry at him: but here
he tells how he is to act who is injured; and he
carries out the figure that he had introduced,
namely the usual course taken before a court,
when two parties are opposed to one another, one
accusing, the other being accused, and the judge
pronouncing sentence and punishing the guilty
party; and he means only to say that he who in-
jures another should peaceably become reconciled
with him; that the other, however, should consent
to be reconciled and cheerfully forgive. This is
now also a fine point, and here many can very
nicely cover over and adorn their scoundrelism, by
saying that they will gladly forgive, but not forget.
For there is ever the pretence at hand, of which I
have spoken, that anger against the wrong is rea-
sonable, and they think they are acting with good
reason, and all is right and proper.

Therefore he warns here again, and shows that
in this commandment not only is wrath forbidden,
but it is also commanded that we are cheerfully to
forgive and forget the harm that has been done
to us: as God has done with us, and still does, when
he forgives sin, that he blots it out of the record al-
together and remembers it no more; yet not so
that one must or can in such measure forget it,

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 149

that one dared never think of it again; but in such
a way that you can have just as friendly a heart
towards your neighbor as before he injured you.
But if the stump remains in your heart, so that
you are not as friendly and kind towards him as
before, then it cannot be said that you have for-
gotten, not even that you have heartily forgiven,
and you are still the knave who comes before the
altar with his gift and means to serve God, whilst
his heart is yet sticking full of anger, envy and
hatred. But very few people pay regard to this;
they all wear the beautiful mask, they do not see
how their heart stands in relation to this command,
which in short tolerates no wrath or ill-will against
one's neighbor.

It is true, as above said, that anger there must 7
and shall be; but take care that it be properly ap- I
plied, and remember that thou art commanded not I
to be augry on thine own account; but for the sake
of thine office and of God, and that thou must not
confound the two, thy person and office. For thine]
own person thou must not cherish anger against \
any one, however badly thou art injured; but where ;
thine office requires it, there must thou be angry, ^
even though no harm has been done to thy person, j
Thus a pious judge is angry at a criminal to whom
he wishes no harm for his own person's sake, and
whom he would rather leave unpunished, and his
wrath proceeds from a heart in which there is

150 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

nothing but love towards his neighbor, and it is
only the evil deed that is to be punished that must
bear the wrath. But if thy brother has done some-
thing against thee and angered thee, and asks thy
forgiveness, and ceases to do evil; then the anger
also must subside. Whence comes then the secret
spite that thou nevertheless art still cherishing in
thy heart, when the cause and occasion of the
anger is gone, and instead thereof other acts appear
showing that the man is converted and has become
a totally different man, and has become a new tree,
with new fruits, who now loves and honors thee
supremely, so that he blames and rebukes himself
on thy account? Thou must before God and all
the world be a desperate man, if thou dost not
again show thyself thus towards him and heartily
forgive him, so that the sentence is properly pro-
nounced against thee that is threatened here.

V. 27, 28, 29, 30. Y^e have heard thai it was said to them of
old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: BiU I say unto you,
That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath com-
mitted adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy
right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee: for it is
profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and
not that thy ivhole body should be cast into hell. And if thy
right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee : for it is
profitable for thee that one of thy mejnbers should perish and not
that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

This is a bit of salt against the teaching of the
Pharisees; he treats in it of two things — first of

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 15I

adultery, then of cutting off. Concerning adultery,
they had given the literal meaning to the fifth com-
mandment, and taught thus: There is nothing more
forbidden than the real act of adultery; and they did
not regard it as a sin if they were at heart inflamed
with lust and evil desire towards another, and also
outwardly revealed this with ugly words and im-
modest gestures, and this did no harm to their
sanctity if they only did otherwise good works,
diligently sacrificed and prayed, etc. That was
not teaching the commands of God, but perverting
them; it was not making the people pious, but
only worse; it was giving room and permission for
all sorts of sin and unchastity. But here you hear
a different master, who shows their sanctity to be
sin and shame, and throws true light upon this
commandment, and decides that adultery is com-
mitted also with eyes, ears, mouth, yes most of all
with the heart; as when one looks at a woman, or
sports with her, yes thinks of her lustfully.

Now see how matters must have stood among
this people, and what kind of people Christ had to
deal with, since not only the great, common crowd,
but those who stood above other people and ought
to teach and control them, not only permit such
things, but do them themselves, and increase the
occasion for adultery, and yet wish to be counted
pious if they only do not actually commit adultery;
although it is easy to calculate how pious and

152 LUTHER'S COM.MENTAI'IY ON THK

chaste people can be for works' sake, if so much
allowance be made, and they can carry it so far as
to have their heart full of eager lust, that also re-
veals itself by all sorts of signs, words and gestures
towards each other. What else can then follow
but the act itself, if opportunity offers? Or, how
is he therefore so much the more pious, although
he cannot perform the deed that he would like to
accomplish and is unceasingly lusting after it in his
heart? Just as a wretch can wish to see his mas-
ter dead, although he is lying in prison, and would
like to kill him himself, if he could only get at him:
are we therefore not to call him a murderer, or even
to count him pious?

But do you say: If that be true, that also with
a look adultery can be committed, what are we
then to do ? Men and women must live together
and have daily intercourse. Or are we to run out
of the world, or punch out ears and eyes, and have
our heart torn out? Answer: Christ does not here
forbid that we are to live together, eat, drink, yes,
even laugh and be merry; that is all still free of
harm, if only the one feature be wanting, that
means, to lust after her. It is true, the Jews try
to help themselves out in this way, by saying-
there is no sin, if one loves another with thoughts
and signs; just as they do not regard it as sin to be
angry with a neighbor and be hostile to him at
heart: so that one must not condemn the whole

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. I53

nation and so many holy people, as if they were all
mnrderers and adnlterers. Therefore they ninst
apologize for these commandments, that one is not
to interpret them so strictly; but, as our learned
men have said: These may be good counsels for
the perfect, but nobody is bound by them; and they
have gone so far in this matter that there has been
great disputing and doubting, whether bad conduct
with a whore, outside of marriage, is even a sin;
and it is in fact now in Italy among respectable
people counted an honor, so that one almost regards
those as holy who go no farther than this. Again,
however, there are those who have narrowed it
down altogether too much, and want to be so very
holy, that they forbid even looking at any one, and
have taught that all association of male and female
persons is to be avoided. Hence come the excel-
lent saints that have run away from the world into
the wilderness and into monasteries, so that they
may shut themselves off from all seeing and hear-
ing, from all dealing and fellowship with the world.
But Christ states the opposite of both these ex-
tremes; he will not let the command of God be so
twisted; and such counsel be given in the matter
as to give a loose rein to unchastity and villainy.
For he says in plain and clear words that he who
looks at a woman with evil desire is an adulterer,
and sentences him besides to hell-fire, when he says
it is better that one should put out his eye than

154 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

that the whole body should be cast into hell. And
he also does not want such saints as run away from
mankind. For if that were to be the rule, the ten
commandments would nowhere be needed. For if
I am in the wilderness, separated from everybody
else, no one can thank me for not committing
adultery, murdering and stealing ; and I still may
think meanwhile that I am holy and have violated
none of the ten commandments, which however
have been given by God for the very reason that
he may teach us how we are to live aright in the
world with reference to our neighbor.

For we are not so made that we are to run away
from one another, but are to live together and
share both good and evil. For as we are men, we
must also help to bear all sorts of human misfor-
tunes and the curse that has fallen upon us, and
so prepare ourselves that w^e can live among bad
people, so that every one may there prove his holi-
ness and not let himself be made impatient, so that
he flees away. For we must live upon earth among
thorns and thistles, in a state of affairs that abounds
in temptation, opposition and trouble. And you
have not helped yourself in the least though you
have run away from the multitude, and yet carry
along with you the same bad companion, that is
the lust and evil passion that adheres to flesh and
blood. For you surely cannot deny your father
and mother, though you are alone and locked up,

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 1 55

nor can you throw away your flesh and blood from
you and let it lie. Tlie command is not to lift
your foot and run away; but abide in your lot,
bravely to stand and contend against all manner
of temptation, and patiently to force your way
through and conquer.

Therefore Christ is a true Master, who teaches
you not to run away from people, nor to change
your place; but to lay hands upon yourself, and cast
from you the eye or the hand that offends you, that
is, to remove the occasion of sinning, which is the
evil lust and desire that sticks in yourself and
comes out of your heart. If this be out of the way,
you can easily without sin be among the people
and have intercourse with everybody. Therefore
he says plainly (as above said): If thou lookest
upon a woman to lust after her, thou hast com-
mitted adultery with her in thy heart. He does
not forbid your looking at her; for he is speaking
to those who must live in the world among the
people, as the whole previous teaching of this chap-
ter and also that which follows abundantly shows.
But he means that we are to separate from each
other the looking and the lusting.

You may look, indeed, at any woman or man;
but only be careful that there be no lusting. For
to this end God has ordained that every one should
have his own wife or her own husband, so that
every one may properly gratify both lust and de-

156 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

sire. If you do not go beyond this you ha\'e his
sanction, and lie adds his blessing to it, and is sat-
isfied with it, as his ordinance and creature. But
if you go beyond this, and are not satisfied with
what God has given you, but go lusting and gaping
after others, then you have already gone too far,
and have confounded the two, so that the looking
is spoiled by the lusting.

This is also the chief cause of adultery, that is
always apt to happen when one does not regard
God's word in reference to his wife, as that which
God gives him and blesses, but at the same time
he fixes his gaze upon another woman; then soon
the heart goes after the eyes, so that lust also and
desire are added, which I ought to have for my wife
alone. Aside from this, flesh and blood is overcur-
ious, so that it is soon discontented with and tired
of that which it has, is gaping after something else,
and the devil adds his promptings, so that one sees
nothing in his wife but what is faulty and fails to
see what is good and praiseworthy. Hence it
comes to pass that every other woman is more
beautiful and better in my eyes than my own wife;
yes, many a one who has a really beautiful, pious
wife, allows himself to be so blinded, that he dis-
likes her, and attaches himself to an ugly, shame-
ful piece.

Therefore this would be the true art and strong-
est safeguard against this sin (as I have elsewhere

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 1 57

more fully explained, of marriage and wedded life),
if every one would learn rightly to regard his
spouse according to the word of God, which is the
most precious treasure and beautiful ornament that
one can find in a man or woman, and would mirror
himself in it; then he would love and esteem his
spouse as a divine gift and treasure, and woul'd
think thus if he sees another (even if she were
prettier than his own): Is she pretty? well, she is
not so very pretty, and if she were the prettiest on
earth, I have at home a more beautiful ornament
in my wife that God has given me, and has adorned
with his word above all others, even though she
be not beautiful in body, or be otherwise defective.
For if I look at all the women in the world, I find
no one of whom I can boast as I can of mine with
a good conscience: This one God has bestowed
upon me and placed within my arms, and I know
that he and all angels are heartily pleased if I cling
to her with love and fidelity. Why should I then
despise this precious divine gift, and devote myself
"^ to another, in whom I find no such treasure and or-
nament?

See, I could easily look at all women, and talk
with them, laugh and be merry in such a way that
still there should be no lust and desire on my part,
and I would not let any one seem to be so beautiful
or desirable to me, that I would act contrary to
God's word and command; and though I was

158 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

tempted by flesh and blood, yet I did not need to
consent, nor allow myself to be overcome, but I
had to contend bravely against it and conquer
through the word o^ God, and to live in the world
in such a way that no one's wickedness could
make me wicked, and no enticement could make
me an adulterer. But because one does not see or
regard this word of God, it has easily happened,
that one becomes tired of his spouse and averse to
her, and prefers another and cannot resist the lust
and desire. For he does not know the art, that he
can rightly regard his spouse according to the
beauty and ornament with which God has clothed
her for him; he sees no further than according to
the eyes, as his wife appears to him ill-shaped or
faulty, and another prettier and better. So you
understand when looking at a woman is sin, or is
not sin, namely, that one is not to look at another
as every one is to look at his wife.

Yet we are not here to span the bow too tightly,
as if one were to be damned because, when tempted,
he feels that this lust and desire towards another'
begins to arise. For I have often said that it
is profitable to live in flesh and blood without
sinful, evil inclination, not only in this matter,
but also against every commandment. Therefore
moralists have made this distinction, with which I
concur: that an evil thought, without assent, is
not a mortal sin. It is not possible, if some one

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. I59

has offended you, that your heart should not feel,
or^bFTTTOved^a'ird'^egln to heave to take vengeance.
But that is not yet criminal, if it only does not de-
termine and proceed to do harm, but resists this
inclination. So also in this case; it is not possible
to prevent the devil from shooting into the heart
evil thoughts and lust. But then take care that
thou dost not allow such arrows to stick there and
grow fast, but tear them out and throw them away,
and do as long ago was taught by one of the
ancients, who said: "I cannot prevent a bird from
flying over my head; but I can easily prevent it
from making a nest in my hair, or biting off my
nose." Thus it is not in our power to prevent this
or some other temptation, so that thoughts do not
occur to us: if we only stop with their occurring to
us, so that we do not admit them, although they
knock for admittance, and prevent their taking
root, lest they might lead to consent and a purpose
to sin. But nevertheless it is still sin, but it is in-
cluded in the common forgiveness, because we can-
not live in the flesh without committing many
sins, and every one must have his devil; as also St
Paul complains about the sin (Rom. vii. 17) that
dwells in him, and sa3-s, that he finds in his flesh
no good thing, etc.

That, however, some have here raised the ques-
tion, and pointedly asked whether it is sinful for a
man to desire to marry a woman or for a woman to

l6o LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

desire to marry a man, is silly, and both questions
are contrary to Scripture and to nature. For when
should people marry, if they would not have desire
and love for one another? Yes, that is the reason
why God has given this eager desire to bride and
bridegroom, otherwise every one would flee from
and avoid marriage. Thus he has also commanded
in the Scriptures, that both, man and woman,
should love each other, and he shows that he is
greatly pleased when husband and wife are well
adapted to each other. Therefore this desire and
love must surely not be lacking, and it is very for-
tunate and agreeable if it only lasts a long while.
For without this, trouble comes, hoih/rom the flesh
that one soon becomes tired of this state, and is
unwilling to bear the discomfort that comes with
it; and also fro7n the devil^ who cannot bear to see
two married people treating each other with true
affection, and does not rest until he gives occasion
to impatience, strife, hatred and bitterness between
them; so that it is an art not alone necessary, but
also difficult, and peculiar to Christians, to love
one's wife or husband properly, so that one may
bear the faults of the other and all sorts of carnal
misfortune. At first it all goes very well, so that
for love (as it is said) they are ready to eat each
other up; but when the novelty is over, then comes
the devil with satiety, and tries to rob you too
much of desire in this direction, and excite it too
much in another.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. l6l

Let this suffice for the topic of lust aud desire. '»
But what are we to say about the way Christ spans \
the bow wheu he says that we are to phick out the
eye and cut off the hand if it offends us? Are we
then to cripple ourselves, make ourselves lame and
blind ? Then we would have to take our own life,
and every one become a self murderer. For if we
must throw away everything that offends us, we ;
would have first of all to tear out our heart. But I
what else would that be than to destroy all nature {
and the creatures of God. Answer: here you see ?
clearly that Christ in this chapter is speaking not
at all of mere worldly affairs, and that all such ex- i
pressions that occur here and there in the Gospel ;
(such as to deny one's self, hate one's soul, forsake
everything, etc.,) do not belong at all to the sphere
of secular affairs or the civil government, nor are to
be understood according to the statutes of the old
Saxons, as the jurists call them, to pluck out eyes,
to cut off the hand, and such like; or how could
this life and civil government endure? But he is
speaking here of spiritual life and spiritual affairs,
in which one does not externally, corporeally, and
in the sight of the world, throw away his eye or
his hand, deny himself and forsake all things, but
in his heart and in God's sight. For he is not-f
teaching how to use the fist or the sword, or to J
control life and property, but only the heart and j
conscience before God ; therefore we are not at all [
II

1 62 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

to apply his words in the sense of the legal terms
or those of secular government.

In this way he speaks also in Matt. xix. 12, about
castrating, where he alludes to three kinds of cas-
trated ones or eunuchs. The first and second are
such as are eunuchs naturally or are made such by
the hands of men; these the world and the jurists
call castrated. But the third kind are such as
have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of
heaven's, sake ; these are called castrated, not ex-
ternally, in their body, but in heart or spiritually;
not in a worldly sense or manner, but (as he sa^.s)
for heav^en's sake. For with worldly matters he
has nothing to do. Thus also here, we are spiritu-
ally .to tear out eyes, hand, heart, and let every-
thing go, that it may not offend us; and yet live in
this world, where we cannot do without any of
these things.

This is now what is here meant: If thou feelest
that thou art looking at a woman with an evil de-
sire, then tear out that same eye or sight (as being
forbidden by God) not of the body, but of the heart,
from which lustful desire comes; then thou hast
rightly plucked it out. For if the evil desire is
out of the heart, then the eye will not sin, nor
offend thee, and thou lookest now upon that woman
with the same bodily eyes, but without desire; thou
wilt be just as if thou hadst not seen her. For the
eye of which Christ speaks, which was there be-

SERMON ON THR MOUNT. 163

fore, and is called the eye of lust or desire, is no
longer there, although the bodily eye remains un-
injured. Thus he speaks also about the castrated.
If the heart has resolved to live chastely without
marriage (if it has grace) then it has made itself a
eunuch for the kingdom of heaven's sake, and does
not need to injure any member of the body. In
short, it is such a castrating and plucking out that
neither a fist nor a hangman can do, but the word
of God in the heart.

Therefore those are fools who transfer these and
similar sayings from the spiritual to the secular
sphere, as if Christ had taught what was contrary
to secular rule, yes, contrary to the natural order of
things. Therefore some have made such fools of
themselves that, through impatience and despair
of being able to fight against flesh and blood, they
have gone so far as to help [i. e. castrate?] them-
selves, so that the bishops in the councils had to
forbid the practice. That all comes of a misunder-
standing, that they do not distinguish between the
ruling and doctrine of Christ and of the world; they
abide by the gross conception of castration, so that
they think no further than how the world desig-
nates and understands it in its sphere : whilst
Christ himself excludes this understandine of it,
and takes it away, and distinguishes those who are
castrated by nature or by human hands (whether
by their own or those of others,) and contrasts them

164 Luther's commentary on the

with those who are castrated neither by men's
hands nor by nature; whereby he clearly shows that
he is speaking alone of spiritual castration, since
the body wiih all its members is entire and unin-
jured, and yet has not sexual desire as others
have, which cannot be cut out of flesh and blood,
even though one were to rob himself of his natural
members: as they say themselves, that such eu-
nuchs or castrated persons have more desire for or
love to women than any others; therefore also
great kings (or queens) have preferred such per-
sons as chamberlains, on account of the great
fidelity and love they have for women.

But it appears also, that Christ often on other oc-
casions used this expression : ' 'If thine eye, or hand,
or foot, offend thee." For they are applied else-
where in the gospel, also to other matters, in such
a way that he used it as a common saying, and ap-
plied it as a common comparison to all kinds of sin,
that one should not yield to the occasion and incli-
nation to sin; here, however, it is significantly ap-
plied to a particular case, namely, to adultery, so
that the command is to pluck out the e)e that is
about to offend us by evil desire: for adultery is
commonly occasioned by looking, and comes into
the heart through the eyes, if one does not resist
the temptation. Thus he employs the same words
with reference to another mode of giving offence,
(Matt, xviii. 8 sq.) so that he calls it an offending

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 165

eye or hand, if a preacher and teacher, or a lord
and tyrant, seeks to mislead thee from the truth and
true doctrine; and he bids thee to tear it out and
cast it from thee, so that one may say : Thou art it
is true my eye or hand, my master or ruler; but if
thou wishest to turn me from the truth to false
faith, or to compel me to do evil, I will not follow
thee, etc.

V. 31, 32. It hath beeti said, Whosoever shall 'put away his
wife, let him give her a writing 0/ divorcement : but I say unto
you, That whosoever shall put aivay his wife, saving for the
cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adtdtery : and who-
soever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

Here we see clearly how they wrested this com-
mandment, giving- room and liberty enough to
violate it, and yet not counting their conduct sin-
ful, if they only did not make too glaring an exhi-
bition of it by open adultery; for they were per-
mitted, if one disliked his wife and wanted to be
rid of her, and had become fond of another woman,
that he might leave her and court another that
better pleased him; and, although the latter had
another husband, they could easily induce him to
dismiss his wife, so that he had to put her away,
and yet she should not be said to be taken by
violence. Thus it was also a small matter among
them, whether one had had sexual intercourse
with another woman, so that he thereby took
her to wife; as they at any rate wanted to have

l66 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

more than one wife; and they had indeed bronght
things to such a pass that every one without quahns
of conscience acted in the matter of marriage and
divorce just as he pleased. Therefore, Jesus takes
up also this matter of divorce, rebukes and con-
demns their knavery and abuse of the permitted
divorce, to instruct their consciences how one is
properly to proceed in this matter, so that one does
not go too. far and act contrary to the command-
ment. He touches upon it here, however, only in
a few words; for afterwards, in the nineteenth
chapter, he discusses it more at large.

How are we now, however, to proceed in matters
pertaining to marriage and divorce? I have said
that we are to leave this in the hands of the jurists,
and committed to the secular government, because
marriage is quite a secular, external thing, as wife,
child, house and home, and other things that be-
long to the authority of the government, as this is
altogether subject to the reason. Genesis I. There-
fore, what the civil authority and wise people de-
termine and ordain in reference to this matter ac-
cording to right and reason, with that we should be
content. For also Christ does not here appoint or
ordain anything as a jurist or ruler, in external
matters; but only as a preacher he instructs the
consciences so that we rightly use the law concern-
ing divorce, not for knavery and personal wanton-
ness, contrary to the command of God. Therefore

SKRMON ON THE :iI3UNT. 167

we will not here go any further than to see how the
matter stood among them, and how those should
conduct themselves who wish to be Christians; for
with those who are not Christians we have nothing
to do (as those who must be governed not with the
Gospel but with compulsion and punishment), so
that we may keep our office pure, and not grasp
after more than is committed to us.

In Deuteronomy xxiv. i and 4 we read: "When a
man hath taken a wife and married her, and it
come to pass that she find no favor in his eyes, be-
cause he hath found some uncleanness in her;
then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and
give it in her hand," etc.; but a prohibition is at
once appended to this, that the same man (if he
afterwards would like to have her again) " may not
take her again to be his wife," etc. Now, this law
they soon learned, and bravely abused, so that
every one easily discarded and dismissed his wife,
when he was tired of her, and longed for another
(though Moses allowed such dismissal only
when he found "some uncleanness in her" on
account of which they could not well remain to-
gether); and they took such liberties in this matter
that they themselves saw that their custom was
blameworthy and quite too wanton, and they
therefore asked Christ, Matt. xix. 3: "Is it law-
ful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?"
He orives them an answer, too, and reads them a

i6S luthkr's commkntary on the

sharp text besides, which they had never heard be-
fore, and concludes just as here, that both he who
gives the bill of divorcement (except for fornica-
tion), and marries another, commits adultery, and
decides that she also commits adultery who marries
another. (For otherwise she could not commit
adultery, if she remained unmarried.) Thereby
he not only rebukes them for acting wantonly in
the matter of divorcement, but teaches that they
should not practice divorcement at all, or, if they
do, both parties should remain unmarried, and
concludes that divorcing is always a cause of
adultery.

To their question, "Why did Moses then allow
such divorcement?" he answers: "Because of the
hardness of your hearts Moses suffered you to put
away your wives." Not that it was commendable
or well done ; but that you are such vile and rude
people, that it is better to allow this than that you
do worse, cause miser}' or murder, or live together
in perpetual hatred, discord and enmity: as it yet
might even be advisable (if the temporal authori-
ties should so order it), on account of some queer,
self-willed, stubborn people, who are never satisfied
with an}-thing, and are not at all adapted for mar-
ried life, that they should be allowed to separate
from one another. For government cannot other-
wise be carried on; on account of the badness of
the people one must often yield something, though

^jOJ^

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 1 69

it be not well done, lesy something worse may
■happen.

Thus it is now settled, that those who want to
be Christians are not £0 be divorced, but each to
retain his or her spouse, and bear and experience
good and evil with the same, although he or she
may be strange, peculiar and faulty; or, if there be
a divorce, that the parties remain unmarried; -and
that it will not do to make a free thing out of mar-
riage, as if it were in olir power to do with it,
changing and exchanging, as we please; but it is
just as Jesus says: "What God has joined together
let not man put asunder."

For trouble here is owing solely to the fact that
men do not regard marriage according to God's
word as his work and ordinance, do not pay regard
to his will, that he has given to every one his
spouse, to keep her, and to endure for his sake the
discomforts that married life brings with it; they
regard it as nothing else than a mere human, secu-
lar affair, with which God has nothing to do.
Therefore one soon becomes tired of it, and if it does
not go as we wish, we soon begin to separate and
change. Then God nevertheless so orders it, that
we thereby make it no better; as it then gener-
ally happens, if one wants to change and improve
matters, and no one wants to carry his cross, but
have everything perfectly convenient and without
discomfort, that he gets an exchange in which he

lyo LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

finds twice or ten times more discomfort, not alone
in this matter but in all others.
. For it cannot be otherwise upon earth ; there must
daily much inconvenience and discomfort occur in
ev'ery house, city and country; and there is no condi-
tion upon earth in which one must not have much
to endure that is painful, both from those that be-
long to him, as wife, child, servants, subjects, and
externally from neighbor's and all kinds of acci-
dental mishaps. When now one sees and feels this,
he is soon tired of his condition and discontented
with it, or breaks out with impatience, scolding and
cursing ; and if he cannot avoid or get rid of this
annoyance, he will change his condition, thinks
every one's condition and state better than his own,
and when he has been long changing about he
finds he has been going farther and faring worse.
For to change is soon and easily done ; but to im-
prove is doubtful and rare. This was the case, too,
with the Jews in their marriage changings and
divorces.

Therefore in this matter we ought to do as we
have always taught and exhorted: If one wants to
undertake anything that he wishes to be blessed
and successful, also in temporal affairs, as in mar-
rying, remaining at home, accepting a position,
etc., that he appeal to God and seek counsel from
him who is to give it, and whose it is. For it is
not a trifling gift of God, if one gets a pious, toler-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. I71

ably good wife: why should you not then pray to
him that he may cause it to turn out well? For the
first eager and curious desire will not accomplish
this, or give permanence, if he does not add his
blessing and give success, and help to bear the
occasional discomfort. Therefore, those who do
not do this, but rush into things of their own ac-
cord, as if they needed no help from God, and do
not learn to adapt themselves to circumstances,
they deservedly realize in them a real purgatory
and hellish torment, without the devil's help ; and
because they bear no trouble with patience, but
have selected just what suited them best, and want
to set aside and ignore the article that is called for-
giveness of sin; they have as a reward a restless,
impatient heart, and so must suffer double misfor-
tune and get no thanks for it. But we have said
enough of this elsewhere.

But you ask: Is there then no reason for which
there may be separation and divorce between man
and wife? Answer: Christ states here^and in
Matthew xix. 9, only this one, which is called
adultery, and he quotes it from the law of Moses,
which punishes adultery with death. Since now
death alone dissolves marriages and releases from
the obligation, am adulterer is already divorced not
by man but by God himself, and not only cut loose
from his spouse, but from this life. For by adul-
terv he has divorced himself from his wife, and has

\

172 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

dissolved the marriage, which he has no right to do;
and he has thereby made himself worthy of death,
in such a way that he is already dead before God,
although the judge does not take his life. Because
now God here divorces, the other party is fully
released, so that he or she is not bound to keep the
spouse that has proved unfaithful, however much
he or she may desire it.

For we do not order or forbid this divorcing, but
we ask the government to act in this matter, and
we submit to what the secular authorities ordain in
regard to it. Yet, our advice would be to such as
claim to be Christians, that it would be much
better to exhort and urge both parties to remain to-
gether, and that the innocent party should become
reconciled to the guilty (if humbled and reformed)
and exercise forgiveness in Christian love; unless
no improvement could be hoped for, or the guilty
person who had been pardoned and restored to
favor persisted in abusing this kindness, and still
continued in leading a public, loose life, and took
it for granted that one must continue to spare and
forgive him. . In such case I would not advise or
order that mercy should be shown, but would
rather help to have such a person scourged or im-
prisoned. For to make a misstep once is still to be
forgiven, but to sin presuming upon mercy and for-
giveness is not to be endured. For, as before said,
we know already that it is not right to compel one

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. I73

to take back again a public whore or adulterer, if
he is unwilling to do it, or out of disgust cannot do
it. For we read of Joseph, Matt. i. 18 sq. , that al-
though he was a pious man, yet he was not willing
" to take unto him Mary his espoused wife " (when
he saw that she was pregnant); and was praised be-
cause "he was minded to put her away privily,"
and not lodge complaint against her and have her
executed, as he might well have done.,]

In addition to this cause of divorce there is still
another: if one of a married couple forsakes the
other, as when one through sheer petulance deserts
the other. So, if a heathen woman were married
to a Christian, or, as now sometimes happens, that
one of the parties is evangelical and the other not
(concerning which Paul speaks in i Cor. vii. 13),
whether in such a case divorce would be right?
There Paul concludes: If the one party is willing
to remain, the other should not break the eng-ao-e-
ment; although they are not of one faith, the faith
should not dissolve the marriage tie. But if it
happens that the other party absolutely will not re-
main, then let him or her depart; and thou art not
under any obligation to follow. But if a fellow de-
serts his wife without her knowledge or consent,
forsakes house, home, wife and child, stays away
two or three years, or as long as he pleases (as now
often happens), and when he has run his riotous
course and squandered his substance and wants

174 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

to come home again and take his old place, that
the other party ninst be nnder obligation to wait
for him as long as he chooses, and then take up
with him again: such a fellow ought not only to be
forbidden house and home, but should be banished
from the country, and the other party, if the rene-
gade has been summoned and long enough waited
for, should be heartily pronounced free.

For such a one is much worse than a heathen
and unbeliever, and is less to be endured than a
miserable adulterer, who, though he once fell, can
still reform again and be faithful as before to his
wife; but this one treats marriage just as he pleases,
does not feel himself under any obligation to abide
as husband and father with wife and children and
perform his duty toward them, but holds himself
sure of a safe reception if the notion takes him to
return. But this is the state of the case: He who
wishes to have wife and cliild must stay with them,
share with them good and evil, as long as he lives;
or if he will not, that we teach him that he must do
it or be entirely separated from wife, house and
home. But where these causes do not exist, their
other defects and faults are not to be counted a hin-
drance or lead to a divorce, such as quarrels or
other mishaps. But if parties are divorced (says
St. Paul), then let them on both sides remain un-
married.

Let this suffice for what is said on this subject in

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 1 75

the text, for I liave elsewhere written enough about
it. The chief safeguard against such divorce and
other domestic trouble is (as I have said) that every
one learn to bear with patience common faults and
mishaps in his condition and surroundings, and to
overlook them in his wife, and be assured that we
cannot have everything just right as we would
have it. Why you cannot have it otherwise or
better in your own body, and must put up with all
sorts of filth and disagreeableness that it daily
causes you; so that if you were to throw away
everything that is unclean about it, you would have
to begin with the belly that nourishes you and has
to keep you alive.

If now you can endure this in your body, so that
it makes a stench for you before you are aware of
it, or begins to suppurate and ulcerate, so that
there is no purity in your skin, and you make due
allowance for all this; yes, you show all the more
care and love for it by waiting upon it, washing it,
enduring and helping where anything is wanting;
why should you not do it- here in the case of your
own spouse whom God has given you, in whom you
have a still greater treasure and whom you have
more cause to love? For there ought to be such
love among Christians as that of each member of
the body towards every other (as St. Paul often re-
marks), when one kindly regards the faults of an-
other, himself sympathizes with them, endures and

176 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

removes them, and does all he can to help his
neighbor. Therefore, onr principal duty is no-
thing else than simple forgiveness of sin, both in
ourselves and toward others; so that, as Christ in
his kingdom without intermission is bearing with
and forgiving all manner of faults, so also we among
ourselves bear and forgive in all conditions and in
all things. May God allot to him who will not do
this, that he may never have rest, and make his
single misfortune or plague ten times worse.

^- 33-37- A,<^ai?i, ye have heard that it hath been said by
them 0/ old ti>ne, Thou shall not forswear thyself, but shall per-
form unto the Lord thine oaths : Btit I say nnto you. Swear
not at all; neither by heaven, for it is God's throne: nor by the
earth, for it is his footstool; neither by fcrusalem, for it is the
city of the ^reat King. Neither shall thou swear by thy head,
because thou catist not wake one hair black or white. But let
your communication be Yea, yea; Nay, nay; for whatever is
more than these comelh of evil.

This text has been spun out with many glosses,
and many a queer notion and error has been drawn
from it, so that many great doctors have been wor-
ried about it, and could not become reconciled to
the blunt prohibition here that we are to "Swear
not at all," but "let your communication be Yea,
yea, and Nay, nay." So that some have stretched
their conscience so tightly, that one doubts whether
one ought to take a solemn oath not to avenge him-
self when he is set free from prison, or whether we
are by an oath to make peace and a treaty with the

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 1 77

Tuil:s or unbelievers, etc. Now we cannot deny
that Christ himself and St. Paul often took an
oath; besides, it is said, in the Scriptures, that those
are praised who swear by his name; so that also
here we must make a distinction, so that we rightly
understand the text.

But we have been told sufficiently, that Christ I
does not wish here to interfere with the secular au- j
thority and ordinance, nor to detract at all from the j
powers that be ; but he is preaching here only for 1
the individual Christians, how they are to conduct
themselves in their ordinary life. Therefore we
are to regard the swearing as forbidden in exactly j
the same sense as above the killing and the looking j
upon or desiring a woman. Killing is right, and i
yet it is also wrong; to desire a man or a woman is 1
sin, and it is not sin; but in this way, that we I
rightly distinguish both, namely, that it is said to ,
)ou and to me: if you kill, you do wrong; if you ■
look at a woman to desire her, you do wrong. But
to a judge he says: If you do not punish and kill, i
you shall yourself be punished; likewise to a mar- \
ried man or woman : If you do not cleave to your \
spouse, you do wrong. So both are right, that one
is to kill and not to kill, to be and not to be with ■
a woman; namely, that you do not be wrathful or ,
kill, or look lovingly upon a woman, unless you are
specially authorized by God's word or command to !
do so. If you are wrathful, however, when God

12

178 luthkr's commentary ox the

coinniauds yon, or if you have a wife according to
the word of God, then each is right ; for what God
says and commands is a very different thing from
when yon do it of your own accord.

As you have understood that, so understand this
also; that the prohibition here is, "Swear not at
all," just as he has entirely forbidden killing, so
that there may be no wrath in the heart; in like
manner, that we shall keep so aloof from man and
woman as not to be looking at them, or thinking
upon them to desire them. And it would be a
dangerous sermon if we were to apply it to the ex-
ercise of governmental authority or to married life,
and were to say to the judge. Thou shalt not be-
come indignant, or give practical proof of wrath;
or to a wedded pair, Thou shalt not look upon
or love thy wife or husband: but we must turn
about here and teach the opposite, saying: Thou
judge shalt be angry and punish; and every one
shall have and love his spouse. How then does
Christ say one must desire no woman, and have no
wrath in his heart? Answer, as said above, he is
speaking of the woman that God has not given
you, and of the wrath that is not demanded of you,
that you are not to have. But if it is demanded of
you, then it is no longer yours, but it is God's
wrath, and no longer your desire, but that which is
given and ordained by God; for you have God's
word for it that you shall love your spouse and not

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. I79

desire any other. Thus also in regard to swearing;
we must see to it, if we have God's word for it or
not.

That he here insists so mnch upon the prohibi-
tion, that he does also in opposition to their false
teachers, who preached in this way, that taking an
oath and swearing, although done needlessly and
without the word of God, was not sin; yes, they
had made a distinction (as Christ here shows) how
one might swear freely, and what oaths should be
valid or not; as, that one might readily swear by
heaven, or by Jerusalem, or by his head; that those
were little oaths, and did not have much validity,
if only the name of God were not invoked; they
had indeed at last carried it so far that a mere yea
or nay was of no account, and they held that it
mattered nothing if they did not do anything which
they had not sworn to do; just as they had taught
in regard to killing, that one should not consider a
secret anger and spite as sin; the same also, if one
were hostile to his wife, had no desire for her or
love for her, but had desire for another and proved
this by looking at her and sporting with her, and
by other signs.

Against such impure saints he began to preach,
and says: If you do not become different and more
pious you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
The matter of swearing must not be treated as you
are doing, who make it right and valid where and

l8o LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

when you choose; but the couiuiand is, You are
not to swear at all, neither by the temple, nor by
Jerusalem, nor by your head, as little as by God him-
self; but let your dealings with each other be yea
and nay, and abide by that. For that is an abuse
of the name of God, if one to the yea or nay adds
oaths and swearing, as if a mere yea and nay were
not valid or binding unless the name of God were
added. There is also a further abuse, that people
swear so thoughtlessly, as is now so commonly
done, when they use the name of God with almost
every word. That must all be strictly forbidden;
as also cursing that is done in God's name, if it
must not be done.

For cursing is just like swearing, both being
good and bad. For we read in Scripture that often
holy people have cursed; thus, Noah curses his one
son, Ham, and the patriarch Jacob pronounced an
evil blessing and a curse upon his three sons,
Reuben, Levi and Simeon, also Moses agaiust
Korah; yes, Christ himself bitterly curses in the
psalter his Judas, and in the Gospel the false
teachers; and Paul, Gal. i. 9, curses all teachers
who preach otherwise (even if it were an angel
from heaven), that they shall be anathema, that
is, condemned aud cursed by God; as if we should
say: Let God oppose them and totally destroy them,
and give them no mercy or good fortune. So the
time may come when one must curse, or do wrong.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. l8l

Thus, that we should now ask God's blessing upon
pope, bishops and princes and wish them success,
whilst they with malicious schemes and wicked
plottings are seeking to shed the blood of pious
people and to throw Germany into confusion; that
Christians should not do, but should and must say
in regard to it: Dear Lord, curse, and hurl all their
scheming to the bottom of hell. Hence, no one
can rightly pray the Lord's prayer without imply-
ing a curse. For, when he prays: Hallowed be\
thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
etc., he must gather up in a mass everything that
is antagonistic, and say: Cursed, execrated, dis-
graced be all other names, and rent asunder and
destroyed be all kingdoms that are opposed to thee,
gone to ruin be all hostile schemes, wisdom and
purposes, etc.

This, however, is the distinction: Of himself no
one is to curse or swear, unless he has God's word
for it, that he must curse or swear. For, as above
said, where it is done in accordance with the word
of God, then it is all right to swear, to be angry, to
desire one's wife, etc. But it is in accordance with
the word of God, if he orders me to do it by vir-
tue of my office and on his account, or demands it
through those who are in office. Thus, that we
may understand it by an illustration, if it should
happen that thou art imprisoned, and in the hands
of the authorities, and they would demand of thee

l82 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

an oath not to seek for vengeance against them ; or,
if a prince demands an oath of allegiance; or a
judge demands an oath from a witness; then it is
your duty to take the oath. For there stands the
word, that thou shalt obey the powers that be. For
God has so ordained and established government,
that one must be under obligations to another, so
that all questionable matters may be adjusted, de-
cided and settled by the use of the oath, as the
epistle to the Hebrews teaches.

But do you say; Yes, but here stands a different
word, that Christ says: Thou shalt not swear.
Answer, as above said concerning killing and being
angry: Thou, thou shalt not do it, as for thyself.
Here, however, it is not thou that swearest, but the
judge who orders thee to do it, and it amounts to
the same thing as if he did it himself, and thou art
now the mouth of the judge. Now Christ here
neither commands nor forbids anvthino- to the gov-
ernment, but lets it take its own course as it is
bound to do; but he forbids you to swear of your
own account, arbitrarily or from habit; just as
he forbids to draw the sword, yet does not thereby
prevent your being obedient to the government,
if your prince had need of your services, or
would summon you to go to war; for then you are
bound to enter heartily into the work of the war,
and it is no longer your hand or sword, but that of
the government; and you are not doing it yourself,

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 183

but your prince, to whom God has committed it.
Thus we speak also in similar cases. As, if it
should come to pass, that we would make a treaty
and concord with our enemies or the Turks, then
the emperor and princes could both give and take
an oath, although the Turk swears by the devil or
his Mahomet, whom he regards and worships as his
God, but we worship our Lord Christ and swear by
him. Thus you have now a cause, for which it is
right to swear, namely, the necessity of taking an
oath from obedience to the government, to confirm
the truth or to endure things for the sake of peace
and harmony.

The other reason is love, though it be not de-
manded by the powers that be, but is done out of
kindness to a neighbor, etc., just as also love is
wrathful and rebukes, when it sees a neighbor sin
or go astray; as Christ teaches in Matt, xviii. 15.
For it cannot laugh at this or praise what is evil.
Thus I may very well show love to the wife of an-
other man, if she be in need or distress, that I may
help her out of it; that is not a carnal, forbidden
love, but one that is Christian, brotherly, that
springs not from my own lust or indiscretion, but
because of ni}^ neighbor's need; and it has the sanc-
tion of God's word, which says: "Thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself."

Accordingly, if I see any one in spiritual need
and danger, weak in faith, or conscientiously

184 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

fearful, or seriously doubting, and so forth, then I
am not alone to comfort, but to asseverate besides,
to strengthen his conscience by saying: As sure as
God lives and Christ died, so surely this is the truth
and the word of God. There an oath is so needful
that we cannot do without it. For by that the true
doctrine is established, the erring and timid con-
science is instructed and comforted, and delivered
from the devil. Therefore in such a case you may
swear just as hard as you can. Thus Christ and
Paul swore, and called God to witness. Thus an
oath is suited to every threatening or promise that
a Christian preacher preaches, both in alarming
hardened sinners and comforting the timid.

In the same way, if one is to vindicate his neigh-
bor or rescue his honor in opposition to bad, ma-
licious tongues, one may also say: Before the dear
God you are wrongly accusing him, etc. For this
is to use God's name aright, to the honor of God
and the truth, and for our neighbor's benefit and
salvation. For in such a case you have the word
and command hovering over you, that orders you
to love your neighbor, to rebuke* the disorderly, to
comfort the sad, etc. ; and because it is commanded
it cannot be wrong, yes, it even urges you to swear,
and you do wrong if you neglect to do it.

In short,. if you have the word of God [on your
side], then may God give you grace right away to
swear, to rebuke, to be angry, and to do all that

SKRMON ON THE MOUNT. . 185

you can. But whatever is aside from this, not
commanded, nor for your neighbor's need or ad-
vantage, in that case you should do none of these
things. For God wants nothing at all that you do
of )'our own motion, without his sanction, be it
what it may, even if one could raise the dead.
Much less will he tolerate it, that one should abuse
his name, appealing to it when there is no need or
occasion for it, or that one daily at home and every
where else use it improperly, as is now done, when
men swear with all they say, especially in beer-
houses, so that it were well if this were strictly for-
bidden and punished. Thus you have a proper,
clear understanding of this matter, so that one need
not vex himself in vain in regard to this text and
make a purgatory out of it when there is none.

Now Christ says: I say to you, Swear not at all,
neither by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by Jeru-
salem. Here we see, the city was held in high
esteem and honor, so that they swore by it; and he
confirms this, and calls it a city of God, and it is else-
where also called the holy city. It was holy, how-
ever, for this reason, that God's word was there, and
through that God himself dwelt there; and it was
a good custom, and no doubt inaugurated by good
people, that the city was so highly esteemed, (as
the prophet Isaiah also gloriously praises it), not
for its own sake, but on account of the word. Ac-
cordingly we may well call every city holy that has
the word of God, and boast that God is really there.

l86 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

But that he says: Thou shalt not swear by thy
head, for thou canst not make one hair white or
black, that he says concerning his creature, not
concerning the use we make of it: For he does not
mean to say that we cannot powder our hair that
it may become black or some other color; but that
it is not in our power to bring out a hair that is
white or black, nor can we prevent it from becom-
ing thus or otherwise. But when it has grown,
then we can cut it off altogether or burn it; just as
we can to some extent change one created thing
by means of another, but we cannot take any part
iu having it created so or otherwise. Thus he
makes our own head a sanctuary, as that which is
not of our work or power, but the gift and creature
of God.

That he now concludes: "Let your speech be
Yea, yea; Nay, nay," etc., that he plainly addresses
to such as have no command or occasion to swear.
For (as was said) of his own accord no one should
swear at all. But when these two features are
added, command or necessity, then you are not
asked to swear for yourself; for you do it not of
your own accord, but on his account who demands
it of you, namely, your governmental authority, or
the need of your neighbor, or God's command.

V. 38-42. Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an
eye and a tooth for a tooth : but I say unto you, that ye resist
not evil : but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 187

to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law,
and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And who-
soever shall compel thee logo a mile, go with him twain. Give
to him that asketh thee, and from that would borrow of thee turn
not thou away.

This text also lias been the occasion of much in-
quiry and error to nearly all the teachers who have;
not known how to distinguish rightly between sec-i
ularand spiritual matters, between the kingdom of ;
Christ and of the world. For when these two are'
confounded and not clearly and accurately sepa-
rated, these matters can never be correctly under-
stood in Christendom, as I have often said and
shown. Now we have thus far heard nothing else
than that Christ directed his teaching against the
Pharisees, who were misleading the people, both
by their teaching and their way of living, and were
misinterpreting and perverting God's command in
such a way that the outcome was only sham saints,
as it is to this day. For we find always among the
preachers some (if not the majority) such Jewish
saints, who teach nothing more than about sin and
piety in external works.

As now in previous passages he rebuked and re-
jected their teaching and false interpretation, he
here also takes up the passage, that stands recorded
in the law of Moses, for those to whom was com-
mitted governmental authority, and who were to
punish with the sword^ that they should and had
to take eye for eye and tooth for tooth ; in such a

l88 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

(way, that they sinned just as heavily if they failed
]to use the commanded sword and punishment, as
(did the others who seized the sword and took re-
(venge themselves, without command: as in former
passages, he who did not dwell and abide with his
wife, to whom he had been married, sinned just as
much as he who dwelt unmarried with another
woman. That they now had perverted and con-
founded, so that they applied to themselves this
text, that was meant only for the authorities, and
they interpreted it in such a way, that also every
one might take vengeance upon his own responsi-
bility, take eye for eye, etc., just as they had con-
founded matters in other passages, and applied to
themselves the being angry, which belongs to and
was enjoined upon the authorities; also they had
toru away from its connection with married life the
carnal desire; in the same way, too, they had per-
verted swearing, aside from its proper use in time
of need and for purposes of love, to their own
trivial habit and other abuses.

■ Now comes Christ and overturns this perverted,
I false notion and theory, gives the authorities their
I due, but teaches his Christians, so distinctly as in-
I dividuals, aside from official position and authority,
■' how they are to live, personally, that they desire
' no revenge, and that they be so disposed, if one
smites them on one cheek, that they may be ready,
i if necessary, to turn to him the other also, and not

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 189

only refrain from taking revenge with the fist, but \
also in heart, with their thoughts and all their
faculties. In short, he calls for a heart that is not
impatient, revengeful or disposed to break the
peace. This is now a righteousness very different
from what they taught and held, and yet they
wanted to deck themselves out with texts from
Moses, that one might readily avenge himself and
oflfer resistance, if he were violently attacked, be-
cause it stands in the text: An eye for an eye, a
tooth for a tooth, etc.

Now many people have stumbled at this saying,
and not only the Jews, but even Christians, have
stumbled at it. For it seemed to them too strict
and hard, that one must not resist evil at all, since
we must have law and punishment among us; and
some have quoted in opposition the example of
Christ, John xviii. 23, when he was smitten on the
one cheek, before the priest Annas, and yet did not
offer the other, but asserted his innocence and re-
buked the servant of the priest, which seems in
violation of this text. Therefore they said that it
was not necessary to turn the other cheek to the
smiter, and they came to the relief of the text in
this way, that it is enough that one is ready at
heart to offer also the other; which may not be un-
truthfully said, but was not rightly understood.
For they suppose that to offer the other cheek to
the smiter means that one must say to him: See,

190 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

thou hast this cheek too, and smite me again; or
that we are to throw the cloak to him who wants
to take the coat. If that were the meaning, then
we would have to give up at last house and home,
wife and child. Therefore we say that here no
more is intended than that every Christian is
taught that he must be willing and patient to suffer
whatever is necessary, and not seek revenge or
strike back.

•But still the question and dispute here remain,
whether one is to suffer all sorts of things from
everybody, and- in no case make any resistance;
also if we are not to contend or complain before
the court, or to claim or demand one's own. For
if this were absolutely forbidden, there would be a
strange state of affairs, so that one would have to
submit to everybody's caprice and insolence, and
no one could be safe from another, or keep any-
thing, and at last there would thus be no govern-
ment at all.

To answer this, thou must always observe this
main point, that Christ is preaching for his Chris^
tians alone, and means to teach them what kind of
people they are to be, in contrast with the carnal
notions and thoughts which then were still cleav-
ing to the apostles, who supposed that he would
establish a new government and empire, and give
them places in it, so that they might rule as lords,
and bring into subjection to them their enemies

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. I9I

and the evil world; as indeed flesh and blood
always wishes and seeks in the gospel that it may
have its rule, honor and advantage, and have noth-
ing to suffer; after this, too, the pope has hankered,
and has come to rule in such a way that his estab-j
lishment has become a mere secular government,
and one so dreaded that the whole world has to be
subject to him.

So we now see, too, that all the world is seeking
its own in the gospel [is selfishly using the gospel],
and thus so many sects and parties arise, that aim
at nothing else than how they can push themselves
forward and make masters of themselves, and crush
out others; as Miinzer began with his peasants,
and as others have shown who imitated his exam-
ple. And even real Christians are tempted in the
same way, when they see things goi'ng so badly in
the world, even in their own sphere, so that they
feel like laying hold and managing things. But it
ought not to be so, and no one should think that
God wants to let us govern and rule with secular
law and punishment; but the deportment of Chris-
tians should be totally different from this, so that
they have nothing to do with such things or even
to care about them, but should let those to whom
such things are committed care for the division of
property, trading, punishing, protecting, etc., and
be content with their disposal of them; as Christ
teaches: Give to Caesar the things which are Cae-

192 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

sar's. For we are transferred to a different, higher
sphere, which is a divine, eternal kingdom, where
we need none of the things that belong to the world,
bnt every one is in Christ a lord for himself, both
over devil and world, as has been told elsewhere.

Those now who are part of this same secnlar
administration, must necessarily have control of
right and punishment, and observe the distinction
of rank, of persons, dispose of and divide property,
so that all things are well-ordered, and every one
may know what he is to do and have; and no one
should interfere in the office of another, nor impose
upon another, or take what belongs to him. For
these things we have lawyers, who are to teach this
and manage such matters. But the gospel has
nothing to do with such things, but teaches how
the heart is to stand related to God; and in all such
matters it should be so disposed that it remains
pure, and does not stumble upon a false righteous-
ness. This distinction mark and observe care-
fully, as being the very foundation principle in ac-
cordance with which we can easily answer such
questions, so that you may see what Christ is speak-
ing about, and who are the people to whom he is
preaching, namely, concerning spiritual matters
and life, and for his Christians, how they are to
live before God and in the world, and conduct
themselves so that their heart may cleave to God,
and have no concern about worldly government,
authority, power, punishment, anger, revenge, etc.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 193

If now one asks whether a Christian is to go to
hiw, or defend himself, etc., then answer simply:
No. For a Christian is such a person who has
nothing to do with such worldly affairs and law,
and belongs to such a kingdom or government in
which the only current rule is, as we pray: Forgive
us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Here there
should be nothing but mutual love and service,
even towards those who do not love us, but are
hostile to us, and do us harm and injury, etc.
Therefore he says to such that they shall not resist
evil, and even not seek revenge, but that they
should turn the other cheek to him who strikes
them, etc.

x\nd then there is another question, whether a
Christian may be a man in a secular position and
conduct the office and work of a ruler or judge, in
such a way that the two persons or two kinds of
office are joined in one man, and he thus be a
Christian and a prince, judge, lord, servant, maid,
which are merely worldly persons, for they belong
to the sphere of the world. To this we answer:
Yes. For God has Himself ordained and appointed /
this worldly sphere and these distinctions, and has
besides confirmed and praised them by his word.
For otherwise this life could not endure, and we
are included in them, yes, born in them, before we
became Christians. Therefore we must remain in
them, too, as long as we are here upon earth; but
13

194 Luther's commentary on the

only so far as our outward, worldly life and condi-
tion are concerned.

Therefore it is not indeed possible to ignore these
I secular relations, for a Christian must be some kind
lof a worldly person, because he, at least as to body
and property, is under the emperor; but as to his
lowii person, according to his spiritual life, he is
only under Christ, and not under the authority of
the emperor or of any man. And yet externally he
is subject to and under obligations to him, in so far
as he is in a civil position or office, has house and
home, wife and child; for all such things are of the
emperor. Therefore he must necessarily do what
he commands him, and what is required by such
an external life, and does wrong, if he should have
house, wife, child, servants, and would not nourish
or protect them, if necessary; and it would not
suffice for him to say that he was a Christian, and
had to forsake everything or let it be taken from
him, etc. ; but he must be told: You are now under
the control of the emperor, where you do not count
as a Christian, but as a father, lord, prince, etc.
A Christian you are, as to your own person, but
as to your servant 5^ou are another person, and are
bound to protect him.

See, we are now speaking of a Christian in rela-
tion^ not of him as a Christian, but as bound in
this life to another person, whom he has under or
over him, or also alongside of him, as lord, lady,

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. I95

wife, child, neighbor, etc., when one is bound to ,
defend, shield and protect another, if he can. (
Therefore it would not be right to teach here to 1
turn the other cheek and to throw away the cloak t*
after the coat. For that would be just playing the i'
fool, as was said of a crankv saint, who allowed the f
lice to nibble at him, and would not kill any of 1,
them on account of this text, asserting that one
must suffer and not resist evil.

Are you a prince, judge, lord, lady, etc., and do
you have people under you, and want to know what
is becoming in you ? Then you do not need to
inquire of Christ, but consult the law of the em-
peror or of your state, which will soon tell you how
you are to conduct yourself towards your inferiors
and protect them. What kind of a foolish mother
would she be, who would not defend her child
against a wolf or a dog and deliver it, and then
say: A Christian must not defend himself? Ought
we not to teach her by a good flogging, and say:
Are you a mother? then do a mother's duty, that is
committed to you, and which Christ has not abro-
gated, but much rather confirmed.

Thus we read of many holy martyrs, who under
infidel emperors and lords have gone forth to war,
when summoned, and in all good conscience have
struck right and left and killed, just as others, so
that in this respect there was no difference between
Christians and heathen; and yet they did nothing

196 Luther's commentary on the

contrar}' to this text. For they did it not as Chris-
tians, for their own person, but as obedient mem-
bers and subjects, under obligation to secular
person and authority. But if you are free and not
obligated to such secular authority, then you have
here a different rule, as a different person.

Therefore only learn the difference between the
two persons that a Christian must carry at the
same time upon earth, because he lives among
other people and must use the goods of the world
and of the emperor, just as well as the heathen.
For he has the same blood and flesh that he must
maintain, not through the spiritual authority but
through the land and soil that belongs to the
emperor, etc., until he is bodily removed altogether
out of this life into another. If now this is prop-
erly distinguished, just how far the personality of
the Christian and that of the man of the world ex-
tends, you can nicely explain all these sayings and
apply them properly where they belong, so that
one may not mix and confound them together as
the pope has done with his teaching and ruling.

This is now what we have to say of the person
who is obligated toward other persons under secu-
lar rule, which is called that of father, mother,
lord and lady, etc. But how is it, if only your own
person is concerned, so that injury or injustice is
done to yourself, whether it is proper then to op-
pose this with violence and defend one's self?

SERIV.ON ON THE MOUNT. I97

Answer: No. For here even the principles of the
world and of the emperor themselves teach: Strik-
ing back provokes quarrels, and he who strikes
back invokes injury. For by so doing he becomes
obnoxious to judicial authority and loses his right;
just as in other cases, as when some one robs or
steals from you, you have no right to steal or rob
from him and forcibly to take anything from him.
But we are generally disposed to avenge ourselves
quickly, before one has time to look about himself.
But this ought not so to be.

But if you are not willing or able to endure it,
then you may go before the judge with him and
there maintain 5^our cause. For he allows it to
happen that you in the ordinary way demand and
take your rights, but so that you are careful not to
have a revengeful heart. So a judge may properly
punish and put to death, and yet he is forbidden
thereby to have hatred or a spirit of vengeance in
his heart; as it often happens, that one abuses his
office to gratify his own caprice. If now, however,
this does not occur, and you simply seek to protect
and maintain yourself properly against violence
and abuse, not to avenge yourself or injure your
neighbor, then you do no wrong; for when the
heart is pure then all is right and well done. But
there is danger here, for the reason that the world,
along with flesh and blood, is evil, and it always
seeks its own, and nevertheless wears a plausible
appearance and conceals the scoundrel.

19B Luther's commentary on the

So it is not forbidden to go to law and lodge
complaint against injustice, violence, etc., if only
the heart be not faulty, but eo^ually patient as be-
fore, and one is doing it only to maintain what is
right and not give place to what is wrong, and
from sincere love for righteoasness; as I gave an il-
lustration above from the case of Joseph, the holy,
who complained of his brothers to their father,
when they had done something wrong and an evil
report had gone abroad about them; and he is
praised for this, for he did it not out of an evil
heart, that he wanted to betray them, or wanted to
create strife, as they regarded it, and in consequence
became hostile to him; but he did it out of a
friendly, brotherly heart, for their good. For he
did not like to see that they should be the objects
of an evil report, so that it could not be said that
he sought revenge or meant harm, but did it for
their good, and suffered in consequence of their
blaming him with mischief.

This we read, too, in the Gospel, Matt, xviii., in
the parable of the servant to whom his lord forgave
all his debt, and he was not willing to forgive his
fellow-servant a small debt, that the other servants
were very sorry, and told this to their master, not
because they were revengeful or glad of his misfor-
tune, but kept fist, heart and mouth quiet, so that
they did not swear, or carry slanderous reports to
others, but brought the matter before their master,

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 1 99

whose business it was to punish, and they sought
what was right, but with a truly Christian heart,
as those who were under obligation to their master
to be true to him; for so it should necessarily be,
whether in a house or in a city: if a pious, faithful
servant or subject sees another do wrong or injury
to his master, that he report it to him and shield
him from harm; in like manner, a pious citizen, if
he see violence and harm done to his neighbor, that
he help and defend him. These are all secular
transactions which Christ has not forbidden, but
rather sanctioned.

For it must surely not be that we are to give
room and occasion for every one's caprice, and sub-
mit to it in silence and do nothing about it, if we
can in the usual way succeed in defending our-
selves; although, otherwise, we must necessarily
suffer, if injustice and violence are done to us.
For we must not sanction what is wrong, but give
witness to the truth, and may properly appeal to
the law, against violence and outrage; as Christ
himself before the high-priest Annas made his ap-
peal to justice, and yet, notwithstanding, submitted
to be smitten, and offered not only the other cheek,
but his whole body.

Behold, you ha. e thus an excellent, clear state-
ment as to how you are to proceed in both these
cases, so that we have no need of the prolix and dan-
gerous glosses that used to be sought after; but, so

200 Luther's commentary on the

that we keep things apart, and do not mix them, in
order that each may move in its own sphere and yet
both be effective, namely, in such a way that a
Christian niay, without sin, carry on all kinds of
worldly business, but not as a Christian, but as a
worldly person, and yet his heart remain pure in his
Christianity, as Christ demands; which the world
cannot do, but it abuses all worldly ordinances and
law, yes, all creatures, contrary to the command of
God.

Thus, if a Christian goes to war, or sits and acts
as a judge, and punishes or sues his neiglibor, this
he does not as a Christian, but as a warrior, judge,
jurist, etc.; but retains nevertheless a Christian
heart, desiring to harm no one, and sorry that an
evil must befall his neighbor; and he lives thus at
the same time as a Christian towards everybody,
who suffers all sorts of things, for his own person
in the world, and yet along with this also, as a
worldly person, holds fast, uses and does everything
that the law of the land, or city, or family de-
mands. In short, a Christian, as a Christian, lives
for none of those things that one sees in him, in
this outward life. For all this belongs to the gov-
ernment of the emperor; which Christ does not
mean to overthrow, nor to teach that we are to run
away from it, and to leave the world or one's office
or place in society; but we are to make use of this
rule and established order, and remain under our

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 20I

obligation to it, aiid yet inwardly live under
another rule that has nothing whatever to do with
that one, also does not hinder it, but readily en-
dures its presence alongside.

Thus we now approach the text with this dis-
tinction [in view] and make all these various ap-
plications of it, namely, that a Christian is not to
resist any evil; again, that a worldly person is to
oppose all evil, so far as his official position calls
for it. How the head of a family is not to allow
his servants to oppose him or to abuse each other,
etc., so also a Christian is not to have a dispute
with any one, but to give up both coat and cloak
when they are taken from him. But a worldly
person is to protect and defend himself by appeal-
ing to law, if he can, against violence and outrage.
In short, in the kingdom of Christ the law de-
mands the enduring of everything, forgiving and
repaying good with evil. Again, under the rule
of the Emperor we should endure no wrong, but
guard against evil and punish it, and help to de-
fend and maintain the right, as each one's office
or position demands.

But if you say: Yes, still Christ says here in plain
words: Resist not evil, that sounds so distinct, as
if it were absolutely forbidden? Answer: Yes, but
see to whom he says this. For he does not say
there is to be no resisting of evil, for that would be
a downright overturning of all rule and authority;

202 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

but thus he speaks: You, you shall uot do it. What
are these Yoii? They are the disciples of Christ
whom he is teachiug how they are to live as to
theuiselves, aside from the worldly goverumeut.
For to be Christiaus is a difFereut thing (as has
been sufficiently stated), from holding and execu-
ting a worldly office or calling. Therefore he
means to say: Let him who is clothed with worldly
authority resist evil, execute justice, punish, etc.,
as the jurists and the laws teach; to you, however,
as my disciples, whom I teach, not how you are to
regulate yourselves outwardly, but how you are to
live before God, I say: You shall not resist evil,
but suffi^r all sorts of things, and have a pure,
friendly heart towards those who do to you wrong
or violence; and if some one takes your coat, that
you do not seek revenge, but rather let him take
your cloak also, if you cannot prevent it, etc.

He states two wa\-s by which one suffers wrong,
or has his own taken from him. In the first place,
through mere violence and outrage, as when one is
smitten on the mouth, or openly robbed, without any
warrant of law; that means, to strike upon the one
cheek. Secondly, if it is not open violence, but is
d^ne under the semblance and with help of the law;
as when one seeks an occasion against you before the
law, as if he had a claim upon you, so that he may
compel you to give up your own. That Christ calls
taking your coat by law, when one denies j^our

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 203

right to your own, and you must both innocently
suffer injustice and besides be held guilty as if
you were in the wrong, etc. ; not that you suffer
injury or violence by the law, which is appointed
to defend the pious: but, that scamps and scoun-
drels are sitting as judges and in office, whose
business it is to execute justice, and yet, if one
cannot get at you with violence, they turn and
twist the law, and make an ill use of it according
to their caprice ; just as the world artfully and
daily does, so that now nothing is so common as to
make right wrong, and right out of wrong, by all
sorts of sudden expedients and queer tricks.

Most frequently, however, this happens to pious
Christians, to whom the world is at any rate hostile,
and takes pleasure in tormenting. Therefore
Christ tells them of it beforehand, that they must
expect this in the world, and must submit to suf-
fering, especially if it happens because they are
Christians, that is, on account of the gospel and the
spiritual government, so that on its account they
expect abuse, and let everything take its course.
For we must at all events suffer, sinij
persons we cannot do anything or defeij
against the authorities if they set
against us. Otherwise, if tHis 1.. -•>,': the
you can defend and prote> .

the law, so that justice is yottrsi

then you do right, and 0^1:;

204 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

V. 42. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would
borrow of thee turn not thou away.

He indicates three thino;s that Christians are to
endure in temporal things: that they allow things
to be taken from them, that they suffer willingly
and freely give. Here they (the scribes) taught no
further than the law of the world and of the Em-
peror reaches, which does not bid you to give your
own to another, nor to allow it to be taken from
you; but it teaches you how to manage and deal
with your property, so that you get an equivalent
for it by buying, selling, exchanging, etc. Now
Christ has nothing to say about this, but lets things
take their course, as reason teaches, how one is to
divide property, to trade, etc. But he shows what
a Christian ought to have, over and above all this,
namely, these three things, that he allows things
to be taken from him, either by violence or with
the semblance of right; also, that he cheerfully
gives, and also cheerfully lends.

Therefore, we must here again distinguish be-
tween ' ' -^nd the teaching of Christ. Ac-
corr** , .'/u law you may properly use your
\A^ with them, buy and sell; as we
!■ iarchs, that they dealt with
\u-- " otl'.er people, just as it
. Jive among the people,
uouiiMi For this all be-
lon<^- ■ J belly can claim its

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 205

own, and it is just as necessary as eating and drink-

But over and above this, Christ teaches you, that
in all these things you should nevertheless be ready
gladly to let things be taken from you, to do good,
or to give, and also to suffer, if you can, and to en-
dure violence, not alone with your property, but
also with your life, as has been explained under
the previous text; and all this especially for the
sake of the Lord Christ, if one tries to get at you
because of the gospel, so that in that case you are
ready to give up not only your coat but your cloak
also, not only property and honor, but also your
very life. For in such a case there can be no doubt,
and a different case, indeed, can not easily occur.
For in other cases, which belong to worldly affairs
and government, you have judges and law, if injus-
tice or violence be done to you, that you can ap-
peal to and find help. But if you cannot secure
justice or protection, then you must suffer; just as
those even must suffer who are not Christians.

But here we must see to it, that we do not give
knaves and rogues a chance to take advantage of
the doctrine and assert: The Christians must suffer
in every way, therefore we may confidently en-
croach upon their property, take an:^ steal it; and
a Christian must submit to sit t|u|re wit all that
he has before every desperate STOundi that

everything is open before Iiini. n id oi . .. give

2o6 luthkr's commentary on the

or lend to him as much as he wants, and not de-
mand it again, etc.; as the wretched, renegade
Emperor Julian made merry over this text, and
took from the Christians whatever he wanted, say-
ing that he wanted to pay them in their own coin.
No, my dear fellow, that's not the way. It is in-
deed true, that Christians are to be ready to endure
all manner of suffering; but if you come before the
judge, or fall into the hands of the hangman, then
look out for what he will make you suffer. A
Christian must expect to suffer what is done to him
by you and every one else; but it is not his duty to
allow free play for your caprice, if he can prevent
it by an appeal to the law and by the help of the
authorities. And although the authorities may
not be willing to protect him, or even may them-
selves act with violence, he is not on that account
to ignore the treatment as if he sanctioned it. .
So also here, although he ought to lend and give
to every one that asks him; yet if he knows that
he is a scoundrel, it is not his duty to give to him.
For Christ does not require me to give my own to
every knave, and withhold it from my own and
others, who need it, whom I am besides bound to
help, and then myself be in want and a burden to
others. For he does not say that we are to give
and to lend to everybody, but to him who asks us,
as the one who is in need, etc., not to the one who
capriciously yants to force something from us, as

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 20'J

those who already have enough, or who want to
feed themselves without work by imposing on other
people. Therefore we ought to see to it and know
what sort of people we may have in any place, who
may be poor and without property, or who are not
[in this condition], and not encourage every scamp
or tramp who has no need and could very well pro-
vide for himself For there is plenty of such trash
now roaming about the country, who want to avail
themselves of this teaching, and under its sanction
revel upon the property of others, and squander
everything, and so wander from one place to an-
other. We ought to turn such fellows over to the
constable, and let them be taught something else,
that they must not deceive pious people with their
crankiness.

St. Paul teaches this in 2 Cor. viii. 13, where he
himself is asking for a contribution from the Cor-
inthians for the poor Christians in the famine, so
that it should not be given with the intention that
the others should have ease and they should have
trouble, that is, that they should have trouble and
labor, and themselves suffer want, so that the others
should be put.in good humor by their gifts; and in 2
Thess. iii. 6, lie commands the Christians that they
shall withdraw from such as walk unworthily; but
each one is to work quietly, eat his own bread and
not be a burden to others; and concludes that he
who will not work shall also not eat. Therefore, he

2o8 Luther's commentary on the

who can work shall know that this is God's com-
mand, that he do something to provide for him-
self and not be burdensome to others. For there
are still enough of those who need it, so that
we besides have enough to lend and give, as the
Scriptures say, Deut. xv. ii: The poor shall never
cease out of the land. For we are, therefore, not
to lend and give in such a way, that we fling our
gifts away into the wind, and do not see to whom
we give them; but we are first to open our eyes,
who he is, whether he is pete7is^ (as Christ says,)
that is, whether he is in need, and is properly ask-
ing, or whether it is a deceiver or a scamp.

In this case you must act as a worldly person, so
that you may be prudent as you are living among
the people, and may know the poor, and see what
kind of people you are dealing with, and to whom
you should or should not give. If you then see
that it is an honest seeker, open your hand and
lend to him, if he can repay you again. But if he
cannot, then bestow it upon him and square the ac-
count; as there are pious people who would gladly
work and provide for themselves, with wife and
children, and yet they cannot succeed, but now and
then get into debt and trouble; for such every town
should have its commom treasury and alms, and
church officers who should find out who these
people are, and how they live, etc., so that one
does not encourage lazy tramps or burden the
community.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 209

V. 43-48. Ve have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt
love thy neighbor and hate thine enetny. ,Biit I say unto you,
Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them
that hate you, and pray for them that despite/ully use you, and
persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which
is in heaven : for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on
the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For
if ye love them ivhich love you, ivhat reward have ye? do not
even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren
only, what do ye more than others ? do not even the publicans
so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in
heaven is perfect.

This saying, which Christ here quotes, does not
stand in any one place in the Old Testament, but
here and there in Deuteronomy, concerning their
enemies, the heathen around them, as Moab,
Amnion, Amalek; and, although it is not expressly
said that they shall hate their enemies, yet it fol-
lows from these statements, as he says in jDeut.
xxiii. 6, (that they are never to show any favor to
the Ammonites and Moabites, and their other
enemies, also never to congratulate them or wish
them success^ This was indeed making a liberal
grant to the Jews and opening a wide door for
them, and they made good use of it too. But just
as in other matters, so they failed also rightly to
understand this, but carried it too far and abused it
to gratify their own caprice. Therefore Christ ex- '
plains it differently, and shows them the right!
meaning of the law, which they ignored, and gave'
prominence to such sayings as seemed to sound in
14

2IO LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

their favor, so that they might therewith find sup-
port for their crookedness.

Here mark again the distinction: in the first
place, that he is speaking only of what Christians,
as Christians', are to do, especiall>iior.JLll£. .sake, of -
the gospel and of their Christianity. Thus, if
some one hates me, envies, slanders or persecutes
me for the sake of Christ and of the kingdom of
heaven, I am not to hate, persecute, slander and
curse him in return, but to love, benefit, bless and
.pray for him. For a Christian is a man who knows
no hatred or animositv at all ao;ainst any one, has
no anger or revenge in his heart, but simply love,
mildness and beneficence; just like our Lord Christ
and our heavenly Father himself is, whom he here
too takes as his pattern.

Now the question arises: What are we to say to
this, that in the Scriptures we often read that holy
people cursed their enemies, and even Christ and
his apostles did the same? Is that loving and bless-
ing one's enemies? Or, how can I love the pope,
whom I daily revile and curse, and with good
reason, too? The simple answer is: I have often
said, the office of the ministry is not our office, but
God's. But what is God's, that we do not do, but
he himself, through his word and office as his own
gift and business (or creature) [Geschaft, in some
copies, Geschopflfe.] Now it is written, John xvi.
8, that it is the office and work of the Holy Spirit

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 211

to reprove the world; but if he is to reprove it, he
must not act the hypocrite or flatterer and say what
it likes to hear; but he must rebuke and roughly
assail it; as Christ denounces woe upon his Phari-
sees and Paul says to Elymas, Acts xiii. lo: "O,
full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of
the devil," etc. ; and Stephen, Acts vii. 51-53, reads
the high-priests a hard, sharp lesson; and especially
St. Paul, Gal. i. 8, heaps it all in one denunciation
and calls all those anathema, that is interdicted
and accursed, and consigned to the bottom of hell,
who do not teach the pure doctrine of faith.

See, thus does the word of God call the whole
world to account, roughly seizes„bath_Jj[mis_^aiid
princes, and everybody else ; it denounces_ anji
curses their whole way of living, which it is not,
becoming for you or me to do, unless it is our
official duty. David was right in proceeding thus
in the second psalm, and telling all kings and
lords to consider and humble themselves and sub-
mit to the doctrine concerning Christ, to be re-
buked and taught better, or they should be sum-
marily damned and given over to the devil. I
would not dare to do that; but God's word moves
in this way, thunders and lightens, and storms
against great mighty mountains, and strikes in, so
that it smokes; it dashes to pieces everything that
is great, proud, disobedient, as is said in Ps. xxix.
3; and again, it sprinkles, and moistens, plants

212 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

and strengthens what is weak and sickly, as poor
parched plants.

If now any one wants to rush in, snapping and
snarling wilh cursing and scolding, not as a
teacher and preacher, who has been entrusted
with the administration of God's word, he does
wrong. But he who has been entrusted with this
office must execute it; and he also does wrong if he
neglects it, or through fear does not open his
mouth, and rebuke what is to be rebuked without
regard to persons; as we must now say to our
bishops that they are tyrants and scoundrels, who
act openly with all injustice and caprice against
God and the right. For this I do not of myself,
but in view of my office; otherwise, as to my own
person, I must not wish any evil to any person upon
earth, but on the other hand wish well and speak
and act kindly to everybody. For I am not in this
way hostile to the pope, bishops and all the enemies
that persecute us and so greatly torment us. I do
not at all begrudge them any of the temporal goods,
power and honor that God gives them, indeed
would gladly help them to keep them, yes, would
even besides be much more glad if they were as
rich also in spiritual goods as we are, and had no
want; and it would be our heart's joy if we could
by the sacrifice of our very life bring them to this,
and snatch and save them from their blindness and
from the power of the devil.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 213

But as they positively will not have this, nor can
endure or accept anything good that we offer them,
we must also let them go their way, and say : If it has
to be that one or the other must perish, God's word
and the kingdom of Christ, or the pope and all his
crowd, then let him rather go to the bottom of hell,
in the name of his god, the devil, so that only
God's word may remain. If I must bless and
praise, or curse and damn one of the two, then I
will bless God's word and curse them, with all that
they have. For I must place the word of God
above everything else, and hazard body and life,
the favor of the world, goods, honor, and every
precious thing, so that I may keep that and cling
to Christ, as my highest treasure in heaven and
on earth. For one of these two things must take
place, that either the word of God may abide, and
they fall in with it; or, if they will not accept of
mercy and goodness and all happiness, then they
must not suppress it [the word of God].

Thus a Christian can easily accommodate himself
to the situation, so that he may properly conduct
himself towards both enemies and friends, and love,
bless, etc., every one, so far as his neighbor's per-
son is concerned; but yet, along with this, so far
as God and his word are concerned, that he do not
suffer these to be encroached upon; but he must
place this above and before everything else, and
make everything bend to it, without regarding any

214 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

oue, friend or foe, inasmuch as this is not our cause,
nor our neighbors', but God's, and him it is our
duty to obey, before everything else. Therefore I
say to my worst enemies: So far as my person is con-
cerned, I will most gladly help you and do every-
thing good for you, although you are my enemy
and are doing me nothing but harm; but so far as
God's word is concerned, there you are not to ex-
pect any friendship or love, if you ask me to do
something against that, even if you were my near-
est, best friend; but, if you will not endure this, I
will pray for and bless you in such a fashion that
God may dash you down to the ground [in some
copies, " that God may oppose you and bring you
to shame."] I will gladly serve you; but not to
the end that you may overturn the word of God;
}ou never can bring me to give you for such a pur-
pose as that even a drink of water. In short, men
we are to love and serve; but God above everything
else: so that, if we are called upon to hinder or
thwart these, then there is no more place for love
or service. For the command is: Thou shalt love
thine enemy and do him good; but to God's
enemies I must also be an enemy, so that I do not
with them run counter to God.

Thus he has refuted this position too, against the
foolish notion of the Jews, who gave a false inter-
pretation to the Scriptures, as if they were allowed
to be hostile to their enemies; and he so explained

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 215

the law, that they were to have 110 enemy at all
against whom they should be hostile; although
Moses had said that they should not have and make
any friendship with certain strange heathens,
whom not they but God himself had specially
designated as his enemies. But that they should
themselves regard as enemies whomsoever they
would, and curse, persecute and torment them, that
was not the intention of Moses. For Solomon also,
who rightly understood and explained Moses,
speaks thus: If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if
he is athirst, give him to drink; which saying St.
Paul also quotes, Rom. xii. 29. For to hate one's
enemy is a trait of an ordinary person and belongs
to an office of divine appointment; but the com-
mand: Love thy neighbor as thyself, applies to the
whole community and to each individual particu-
larly.

But see how high he places the standard, that he
not only rebukes those who do evil to their enemies,
but also denies the piety of those who fail to do
them good when they need it. For he says first:
lyove your enemies. But to love means, to have a
good heart and cherish the best wishes, with cordial
sympathy, and be especially amiable towards every
one, and not mock at his misery or misfortune.

He means also that we are to show the same feel-
ing by our words, when he says: Bless them that
curse you, etc., so that we are not to utter an evil

2l6 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

word against lliein, even if they most violently
abuse, slander, revile^and curse us, but to speak to
them kindly and wish them well. Hence comes
that beautiful, Christian expression, employed by
some pious people, when they hear that some oue
has done them wrong, or played some ugly trick
upon them — they say: May God forgive them! as
though moved by compassionate sympathy, and not
desiring anything else than that no harm may come
to them from God on account of it. That means a
good tongue against other evil tongues, so that both
heart and mouth show nothing but love.

Then, in the third place, he means that this
[loving] heart should be shown also by deeds, and
all kinds of friendly acts, saying: Do^good to them
that hate you. But this is a very rare virtue, and
such a doctrine as does not at all suit the world,
and it is quite impossible for nature to return noth-
ing but good for all sorts of evil, and not be over-
come by malice and shameful ingratitude; but to
overcome evil with good, as St. Paul says. There-
fore he had before stated that he who would be a dis-
ciple of Christ and get to heaven must have another
and better righteousness than that of the Pharisees
and Jewish saints.

The fourth topic, however: "Pray for those that
despitefully use you and persecute you," bears more
directly upon our doctrine and faith, than upon our
person and life. For that they persecute us, this

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 217

happens on account of God's word, they claiming
that they are right and we are wrong. When this
is the case it is our duty to pray and commend the
matter to God, because we have no one upon earth
to whom we can appeal for vindication. And since
we see that those who persecute us are running
counter not to us, but to God himself, and are in-
terfering >vith his kingdom, and are doing the
greatest harm not to us, but to him himself, and
have become obnoxious to his wrath and condem-
nation; we should rather have pity on them, and
pray for them, that they may be brought out of
their blindness and fearful doom. For no one can
do us an}' harm, unless he has first done it to a far
greater Lord, namely the high Majesty in heaven.
Yet this also only in so far as it is done aside from
official responsibility and does not interfere with
this, so that we, as I have always said, carefully
distinguish the teaching which relates in general
to each single person, from the teaching which be-
longs to those who are in office, whether spiritual
or temporal, whose work it is to punish and with-
stand the evil. Therefore, even though they be in
themselves kind, yet right and punishment, as their
official work, must run their course; and it would
not be right for them to neglect this, as through
compassion, for this would be to help, strengthen
and encourage the evil; as if I should say to our
enemies, the pope, bishops, princes, and whoever

2l8 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

they may be, who persecute and trample upon the
gospel and the poor people that adhere to it: Dear
sirs, may the dear God reward you, you are pious
people and holy fathers, etc. ; or if I were to keep
silence, and worship them, or kiss their feet. No,
dear brother, the right thing for me to say is: I am
a preacher, who must have teeth in his head, must
bite and salt, and tell them the truth; and, if they
will not hear, I must excommunicate them, shut
up heaven against them, consign them to the fire
of hell, and turn them over to the devil, in God's
name, etc.

Whosoever now has this oflBce, to rebuke, to re-
vile, etc., let him do it; but aside from the oJBice,
let every one follow this teaching, not to revile or
curse, but to act in a kind and friendly manner,
although others may act badly, and thus divert the
punishing from yourself and turn it over to those
whose office it is. For the evil doer will be apt to
find his judge who will not spare him, even if you
do not avenge yourself or seek to do it. For God
will not suffer any wrong to go unpunished, but
will himself take vengeance upon our enemies, and
will send home to them what their treatment of us
has merited; as he himself says: Vengeance is
mine, I will repay; accordingly St. Paul exhorts
Christians, Rom. xii. 19: "Avenge not yourselves,
but rather give place unto the wrath of God;" by
which words he not only teaches, but also comforts,

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 219

as if he would say: Do not assume to take ven-
geance upon one another, to curse and wish evil to
each other; for whosoever does you harm or injury,
he is interfering with an office that is not his,
assuming to punish or injure you without orders,
yes, contrary to the command of God. If now you
do also the same, then you interfere with the office
of God, and sin just as greatly against him, as he
has done against you.

Therefore restrain your fist, and give place to his
wrath and punishing, and let him attend to it, who
will not let it be unavenged, and who punishes
more severely than you would desire. For he has
not assailed you, but much rather God himself,
and has already fallen under his displeasure; he
cannot escape from him, as no one has ever yet
escaped him. Why then will you be angry, since
God's wrath, which is immeasurably greater and
more severe than the wrath and punishing of
the whole world, has already fastened upon him,
and has already taken greater vengeance than you
could do; and besides, he has not done you the tenth
part of the harm that he has done to God ? Why
then do you wish to curse heavily and take ven-
geance, since you see that he is lying under this
severe condemnation, so that you should rather
have pity on his misery, and pray for him, that he
may escape from it and reform, etc.

And to confirm and impress this teaching he pre-

220 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

sents two examples: first, when he says: That ye
may be the children of yonr Father which is in
heaven; for he lets his snn rise on the evil and the
good, and sends rain upon the just and upon the
unjust; as though he should say: If you want to be
called true children of your Father in heaven, then
let his example move you so that you also live and
act as he does. He causes his sun to rise daily,
and sends rain both upon the pious and the evil.
Here he has in a few words included all the earthly
benefits that God bestows upon the world, when he
mentions these two things, the sun and rain. For
if these, or even one of them, were wanting, the
whole world would long since have become waste,
and have perished. If the sun did not daily rise,
one could never work, but all animals, along with
all trees, vegetables and grass would perish from
frost. Hence the sun alone conveys the blessing
of which the world is full, and which it cannot pay
for, so that all, both animals and man, can seek
their nourishment, and it bestows also heat and
warmth, so that everything remains alive, grows,
increases, and does not perish. In short, it is not
possible to enumerate what benefits God bestows
every hour and moment through the sun. Yes,
where is the man that acknowledges this, or is
thankful for it ?

But, although God gives, produces and preserves
everything through the sun, yet we must have the

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 221

rain also. For if the sun were constantly shining,
everything at last would dry up and pine away for
heat, and no fodder or grain could grow for man or
beast. Therefore he has tempered it with the rain,
so that it can revive, and retain its moisture and
strength. There are now embraced in these two
the four things that belong to life, which the
philosophers call the pn'jnas g'Ziah'/a^es^ cold, \v*arm,
dry and moist, so that there must not be one with-
out the other. For if there were nothing but cold,
or again nothing but heat, there could be no life.
Now the sun brings two of these, heat and dryness;
the rain also brings two, so that it is cold and
moist. Thus God gives to the whole world daily
most abundantly and gratuitously, to his enemies
as well as to his friends, life, with all that is needed
for its use and advantage. Yes, he causes it to rain
the most in a waste, wild forest and ocean, where
it is of no use at all, and gives only scant showers
where pious people live. Yes, he gives the best
kingdoms, countries, people, money and goods to
the worst scoundrels; to the pious, however, hardly
bread enough to eat.

Since now God everywhere in the wide world
displays to us these illustrations, just as if he
wished thereby to exhort us and to say to us: If
you do not know what kind of a person 1 am, and_
how I am doing good to you, ask the sun and moon
and rain about it, and everything that is cold, wet,

222 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY OX THE

warm or dry; then you will see not only innumer-
able benefits that I am displaying to my Christians,
but also much more to the wicked, who show me
no gratitude, but reward me by persecuting most
shamefully my Son, and pious Christians; so, that
you must be ashamed to look at the sun, that is
daily proclaiming this to you, ashamed even to
look at a little flower or the leaf of a tree. For it
stands written upon all leaves and grass, and there
is no little bird, yes, no trifling fruit, no berry, no
little grain, so minute that does not show this to
you and say: For whom do I yield my fruit or
berry? For the vilest miscreants and scoundrels
upon earth. What charge do you then bring
against yourself, for having no love at all towards
God, or benev^olence toward your neighbor, and for
not showing at least some kindness to others, since
he is doing you so much good, without ceasing, by
means of all his creatures?

Now there is surely no man upon earth who
suffers the hundredth part as much from bad fellows
as He must daily suffer, not alone by this, that men
abuse his goods and all his creatures for purposes
of sin and shame; but much more, that the very
ones who have the most of these goods, as kings,
lords and princes, are as hostile to him and his
word as to the devil himself, so that they would
gladly destroy it at once, if they could; they rage
and storm against it with all manner of abuse,

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 223

cursing, reviling, and besides with actnal violence,
so that there is no one npon earth to whom more
hatred and envy, along with all sorts of knavery
and trickery, are shown than to his Christians.
Well, this is what he has to endnre daily from the
whole world; yet he is so good, and daily causes
the sun to shine, and lets those enjoy his blessings
abundantly who rather deserve not to have a blade
of grass or a moment of sunshine; but they merit
rather that he should rain upon them incessantly
notljing but hellish fire, and hurl upon them thun-
derbolts, hail, spears and bullets. But he must be
called a very good Father who bestows upon such
desperate scoundrels so much property, land, peo-
ple, fruits and good weather, and allows them to
lord it in every way over his domain, so that sun
and moon and all creatures must serve them, and
allow themselves to be abused in the interest of all
their caprice and wickedness against God. If now
we wish to be children of this Father, we ought
to let these striking examples move us to live
accordingly.

The other illustration is taken from the evil
fellows and • murderers among themselves. They
also understand the art of clinging together and
treating each other well; yes, they make common
cause with one another, and yet their whole aim is
to injure other people, to rob and murder, and this
alone for the sake of temporal, uncertain advantage.

224 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

Therefore you ought surely to be ashamed (he
meaus to say), who are called Christiaus and God's
children, and want to get to heaven, and have such
a good, faithful Father, who promises and gives
you everything good; and yet you are no better
than robbers and murderers, and are like all bad
fellows upon earth. For there never have been
any so bad as not to observe kindness and friend-
ship towards one another; how could they other-
wise get along? For even the devils in hell cannot
antagonize each other, or their kingdom would
soon be destroyed; as Christ himself says.

See, now, how good are you, if you are friendly
and gracious only towards your friends ?- You are
just about as good as thieves and rogues, whores
and scoundrels, yes, as the devil himself. Yet you
act loftily, are secure, and think you are all right,
and can take on splendid and boastful airs as if you
were an angel; as our factious spirits now boast of
the great love that they have for each other, so
that one must see from this that the Holy Ghost is
with them. But what is it that they do ? They
love their own riotous rabble; along with that the}'
are full of deadly and murderous hatred against us,
who have never done them any harm; so that we
can see very well what sort of a spirit they have,
and yet they can very well boast that they have as
much love as scamps, scoundrels and murderers, as
much indeed as the devils towards each other.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT, 225

After this fashion no man upon earth would be
wicked. For there is no one so desperately bad
that he does not need to have somebody for a
friend; how else could he live among people, if he
were snarling and snapping at everybody ? If now
you wanted to conclude here: He loves his friends,
therefore he is good and holy; then you must make
at last the devil, and all his, good and pious.

Therefore Christ here means to conclude against
the Pharisaic saints, that what they teach about
love, etc., is all knavery; and he teaches them to
turn the page and look at the Scriptures aright, if
they want to be the people of God, so that they
might see and show love towards their enemiesT
Thereby they could prove that they had a true
love, and were God's children, as he shows his love
to enemies and the ungrateful. For Moses himself
also plainly said this, as in Exod. xxiii. 4, 5: "If
thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray,
thou shalt surely bring it back to him again;" also,
" If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying
under his burden, thou shalt surely help him up
again," etc. Here they should have found that they
were under obligation to love their enemies, if they
had rightly looked at the text, and had not mere!)-
glanced at it, as our blind teachers skim over the
surface of the Scriptures. For since he here com-
mands them to restore and help up an ass or an ox
that belongs to an enemy : he means that they
is

226 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

should so much the more do it wheu the euemy
himself is in danger of person, property, wife,
child, etc.; and it amounts to this: Thou shall not
desire thy neighbor's injury, but prevent it, and,
if thou canst, help him and promote his advantage.
Thereby you can at last move him, and by kind-
ness overcome and soften him, so that he cannot
but love you, because he sees and experiences noth-
ing evil, but only love and pure goodness in your
treatment of him.

Thus Christ now ends this chapter with this
teaching and these illustrations, and says: There-
fore be ye perfect, as your Father in heaven is per-
fect. Here our sophists have indulged in many
dreams about perfection, and have applied every-
thing to their orders and classes, as if pastors and
monks alone were in the state of perfection, and
one higher than the other: the bishops higher than
the others, and the pope the highest of all. In
this way this word is snatched away entirely from
the ordinary class of Christians, as if they could
not be called or be perfect. But you hear that
Christ is not here talking to bishops, monks and
nuns; but in general to all Christians who are his
disciples and who wish to be called the children of
God, not like the publicans and base fellows, such
as the Pharisees and our ecclesiastics are.

But how are they to be perfect? Answer, briefly,
for elsewhere I have treated of it more fully: We

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 227

are not to be or become perfect, so as not to have
any sin, as they dream about perfection; but to be
perfect means, here and everywhere also in Scrip-
ture, that in the first place the doctrine [that we
hold] be entirely correct and, perfect, and then that
the life also be directed and move accordingly;
as here this doctrine is that we are to love not only
those who do good to us, but also our enemies.
He now who teaches this, and lives according to
this teaching, he teaches and lives perfectly.

But the teaching and life of the Jews were both
imperfect and wrong, for they taught to love only
their friends, and they also lived accordingly. For
that is a partial and divided, and only half a love.
But he demands a whole, round, undivided love,
so that one loves and benefits his enemy, as well as
his friend. Thus I am called a real perfect man,
one who has and holds the doctrine in its entirety.
If, howpver, the life does not fully accord with
this, as indeed it cannot, since flesh and blood con-
stantly hinder, that does not detract from the per-
fection: only so that we strive after it, and daily
move forward in it, in such a way that the spirit is
master over the flesh, and holds it in check, keeps
it under and restrains it, so that it does not have
an opportunity to act contrary to this teaching; in
such a way, that I let love move in the true middle
way, uniformly toward everybody, so that it ex-
cludes no one. Then I have the true Christian per-

228 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

fection, that holds its place in no special offices or
classes; but it is and is to be common to all Chris-
tians, and forms and fashions itself according to
the example of the Heavenly Father, who docs not
part and parcel out his love and kind deeds, but
lets all men upon earth enjoy them alike, through
sun and rain, none excluded, good or bad.

THE SIXTH CHAPTER OF ST. MATTHEW.

V. 1-4. Take heed that you do not you)- aluis before men, to be
seen of them: otherwise ye have no reivard of your Father
which is in heaven. Therefore, ivheti thou doest thine alms, do
not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the syna-
gogues and in the streets, that they may have ^lory of men.
Verily J say unto you, they have their reward. But when thou
doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand
doeth ; that thine alms may be in secret, and thy Father which
seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

Hitherto the Lord Christ was rebuking the false
teachings and interpretations of Scripture, by
which the people had been led only to avoid sin-
ning with the fist, the heart meanwhile remaining
internally entirely impure; and he showed and
clearly exhibited the true meaning of the Scrip-
tures and of the law. Now he assails their way of
living, after denouncing their teaching, and re-
bukes their good works, and shows that they have
nothing good, neither in doctrine nor works, al-
though they were daily teaching and doing good

SERMON ON THR MOUNT. 229

works, as holy people, so that they were regarded
as tihe best kernel of the whole Jewish people, and
as the holiest on earth, and the whole world had to
look to them as its mirror and pattern, according
to which they should live: as we have hitherto
known how to look for the true doctrine and life
nowhere else than among our spiritual pastors and
monks; and yet these are now rebuked by the Gos-
pel, so that every one sees that they have neither
taught nor lived aright, but have misled and de-
ceived themselves and the people.

Now it is truly a mortifying preaching that comes
into the world in such a way as to let these holy
people have no claim to anything right or good;
whereby it will merit to be opposed and not toler-
ated in the world. But the Holy Ghost does not
shrink on this account, but goes on, as it is his of-
fice, wherever he comes, to rebuke both ; as indeed
both need to be rebuked. For this is true, where
the teaching is not right, there it is impossible that
the life, which must be directed and controlled by
it, should be right and good; but what one does in
accordance with it, those are bye-paths and devia-
tions, and so much the worse because at the same
time there remains the semblance and the notion
that it is the true, divine teaching which points and
leads towards heaven, and the works have the name
of being good, and yet they look no further than to
the fist: as they supposed it was enough, and well

230 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE .

done, if they only did the works, gave many ahns,
fasted and prayed, no matter how their heart stood
towards God; and besides they were defiled by the
shameful trait that- they were doing it all only to
be seen by the people and get honor and glory by
it from the people; for that reason Christ here re-
bukes and utterly rejects it.

And first of all he rebukes their alms, which is
still the best among all external works. For it
means nothing else than to help the poor and
needy; and it embraces not only giving a piece of
bread to a beggar before the door, but all sorts of
kind deeds and all s^ood w'orks done to a neig^hbor.
For the little word alms is taken from the Greek
word ElerjiioavvT]^ which means mercy; as we also gen-
erally call them works of mercy. Whence also the
Scriptures praise these works above all others, even
those done towards God, as sacrificing, praying, etc. ;
as Christ himself says through the prophet Hosea:
I have delight in mercy and not in sacrifice. So
also in Is. Iviii, he finds fault with their grieving
him by fasting and scourging their bodies, and de-
mands these works, that they are to do good to the
poor, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, etc.
How does it then happen, that he here rebukes the
Pharisees on account of such a good work ? An-
swer: He does not rebuke the work, but their pur-
pose and aim in doing it. For the deed would be in
itself good, but it is spoiled by their smearing their

SERMON ON THE MOUNT 23I

filtli over it., because they seek only their own glory
and honor before the people by it, and do it not for
the sake of God or their neighbor. Therefore he
pronounces a short, sharp judgment, that all such
alms, however great, many and costly they may be,
are- in vain and of no account.

But who believes that this vice and fault is so
common in the world, and especially in the case of
the best, and how few there are of those who with-
out this seeking for worldly honor or favor are do-
ins: good works? Take all the alms given in the
whole papacy, and count up as many as you can
find, that are not given with this intention. Yes,
the world will never get to understand what it
really means to give alms. For we are all. inclined
that way, if the people would not begin to praise
us, or to show us honor, gratitude or favor, every
one would soon draw back his hand. For if the
pope had said to the princes and founders [of mon-
asteries, etc.]: Gentlemen, I will not give you a
penny for all your foundations and alms, etc., what
do you suppose they would have given for churches
and other institutions? They would not have had
a stone hauled or laid in position; as we now see, be-
cause we teach correctly and exhort to these works,
so that we are to give for God's sake, from a pure,
simple heart, without any seeking for our own
honor or merit, etc., now nobody wants to give a
cent. But hitherto, when they had praise and

232 Luther's commentary on the

lienor for doino- it, it snowed with alms, endow-
ments and wills; and yet this had something- to do
with it, that men believed they were meriting
heaven thereby; nevertheless, that was not the real
reason, but it was just what Christ here says, that
it was a great thing in the e}-es of the people, and
was praised. Otherwise they would not have cared
for it, so as to do it for the sake of God and the
kingdom of heaven.

This we can readily understand by the fact, as
said above, that if we persuade and urge the peo-
ple most earnestly to perform such good works,
and represent it in the most attractive way that we
can, as something heartily pleasing to God, along
with all the angels in heaven, and that God will
reward it a hundred fold: still nobody will touch
it. What is the defect in our plea? Simply this,
that one is no longer to get for it praise and honor,
gratitude and praise before the world. Because the
head is cut off, the body will not follow au)- more.
But if the head were to become alive again, then
things would soon move on again as they used to
do, when this was the way it went. If a rich
prince gave so much to a monastery, then they all
came and said: Deo gratias! and they promised to
merit it [God's favor] with their prayers and divine
worship. That had to be proclaimed in all pulpits,
and all the world had to say: O, that is a splendid
deed ! That is the way it was done everywhere in

SERMON ON THK MOUNT. 233

all the papacy; although there may have been a
few whom God found honest. See, this is a sure
indication that this was done only so as to merit
thereby gratitude, honor and praise.

In addition to this you have also this evidence,
that these saints soon become angry and withhold
their gifts, if they experience ingratitude or con-
tempt. For if they did not do it for the reason
mentioned, they would not become angry at this,
or for that reason cease, but they would continue
and say: I did not begin it for that purpose, and
for this reason I will not cease; but for God's honor
and pleasure I will do it, even though no one gives
me a good word for it. But if }'ou come scratch-
ing along after this fashion: I have done so much
for him, and it is forgotten already, and there's no
gratitude in the people, etc., I would gladly take
out my heart and give it to some one; but since I
see that it has to be lost, and he shows himself so
ungrateful, and all my labor and trouble go for
nothing, I'll let him have hell fire before I give
him a cent or a crust of bread; see, there the scamp
peeps out, and you show by your own words why
you are doing it, namely, that people are to worship
and celebrate you, and honor you as a god; as we
now see in the case of some great miserly bishops,
how they can rage and scold, if one is not always
thanking them, or saying what they like to hear,
so that they even insult princes and lords with it,
and want to blame everybody.

2.34 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

See, this is the shameful perversion of good
works, and the coimiion fault in all the world, that
nobody does anything good without such a design.
For the world cannot get out of the crazy notion,
nor tolerate and overcome ingratitude. That is
where the monks come from, who ran off into the
wilderness, because they were too weak to endure
this, that they should be in the world, help and do
good to everybody, and get as their reward nothing
but contempt, harm, disgrace and ingratitude.
But what devil tells you to do a good work with
the expectation of meriting the honor and favor of
the world, which is uncertain and can soon fall
away and be changed, and not to have a better ob-
ject in view, namely God, for then it cannot be
lost, as he will richly repay you, both now and
hereafter? And you are served exactly right; since
vou are such a rogue, and aim at nothing else than
to be worshipped by the people, and make a god
of yourself; he can ver}- well let the world and the
devil deal with you, so as to take your godhead
from you and throw it into the dirt, where it ought
to lie. For, as you try to sit on God's throne and
appropriate the honor that belongs to him, he very
properly hurls you down again, so that complete
disgrace is all the thanks you get for the stolen
honor.

Therefore, it is a miserable business, as to the
world [in its relation to alms-giving]: whethefit is

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 235

professedly pious or wicked, in either case it is
worthless. For it will either be an open devil,
with evil works; or it will be God himself, with
good works. It is intolerable, in either case.
Therefore no one can do a good work unless he is a
Christian. For if he does it as a man, then he
does it not for the honor of God, but of himself and
for his own benefit; or, if he pretends it is for
God's honor, this is a malodorous lie.

Thus Christ now means to teach how one is
rightly to give alms, and says: If thou givest alms,
do not have a trumpet sounded before thee, and
have it loudly reported, so that a whole town must
know it and talk about it; just as among us, when
a charitable distribution is made, all the bells are
rung; but, if you give alms, do it so that your left
hand does not know what your right hand does.
That is just what St. Paul says in Rom. xii. 8 and
elsewhere: He that giveth, let him do it with sim-
plicity. But to give with simplicity means that
one does not seek thereby his own honor, favor,
gratitude, or reward, and is not influenced by any
one, whether he be unthankful or not; but he gives
away freely what he wishes to give; just as God
gives daily, and causes his sun to shine, regardless
of the thankful or unthankful, just as if he saw no-
body. That is a simple heart and intention, which
neither seeks nor desires anything else than only
God's will and honor.

236 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

These simple alms we do not find among the
worldly. For their giving is of snch a character,
that the right hand gives, but the left hand takes
That is called — givers, takers — as the children
mockingly call each other; yes, given in such a
way that one takes ten times as much in place of
what he gives, as, where one gives a drop of water
and takes a cask of wine. For the world gives in
such a way that it will have the honor that is im-
measurably greater than all money and property,
and buys thee with a trifle, so that it may have in
thee a perpetual captive, with body and life, and
whatever thou hast, yes, and God himself besides.

Therefore says Christ: If thou givest alms with
the right hand, take care that thou dost not seek to
take more with thy left hand; but hold it behind
thee, and do not let it know anything about it; so
that it means given with simplicity, and not taken,
or given in such a way that one must owe thee ten
times as much, and celebrate and worship thee as
an idol; as our young squires now do — if they have
served some with a ducat or two, they want to have
him so bought and under sucli obligations to them,
that he must let everything be gold that they say
and do, and dare not say a word to them except
what they like to hear. My good friend, if you
can sell your bits at that rate, you are not a poor
tradesman, by any means.

Therefore let every one know how to guard

SRRMON ON THE MOUNT. 237

against this vice, and watch himself closely that he
be not also found among these. For there are but
few people that are aware of it, and it deceives also
even those who suppose they are very pious and
full of good works, and are yet in this way twice as
bad as others; thus God is specially hostile to this
vice, and can less endure it than that one should
openly rob his neighbor and do him wrong, than to
give in this way, and so shamefully spoil the good
work, so that you make of yourself an idol, and
you more securely bind and hold your neighbor
than any one else. But that is the way it goes;
where the true doctrine lies prostrate, and yet
everybody professes great piety, there these good
works follow, that have nothing but a vain show,
and do twice as much harm as open evil works.

But some one may say: What is to come of it,
that lie says that alms are to be secret? Is it ob-
jectionable for one to let it be proclaimed and
shown to those who are to take and receive it?
Answer: No; you must see what Christ has in
view, for he is looking at the heart and intention,
namely, if it is given or bestowed so that honor and
glory are sought by it, then it is of no value before
God, although many poor may thereby be helped.
But to give alms in secret means where the heart
does not expose itself, or seek honor and name from
it; but is so disposed that it gives away freely,
without regarding whether it may have any show

238 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

or praise before the people; yes, if besides it is de-
spised and abused by everybody, thus it is called
secret and done alone before God, even though it
takes place openly before all the world. For it is
covered over by this simplicity of the heart that does
not inquire or care about the issue, let God decide,
let come from it gratitude or ingratitude, good or
evil. For thus I do not see it, though others may
see it; thus I and others in our preacher's office
must do, so that we do not concern ourselves
whether we thereby please the people or not; yes,
must rather expect for it contempt, ingratitude,
persecution, and all sorts of misfortune. For every
good work must expect this, and by it be tried and
proved, that it may endure and be found upright;
which is not the case with the other hypocritical
sham work.

In short, he who means to be a Christian must
not want to do, or omit any good work, out of re-
gard for others, but only in order to serve God with
his office, calling, money, goods, or whatever he
has or can do, and honor him so far as he can, al-
though he may never merit any thanks thereby
upon earth. For it is also impossible that a pious
man should be here rewarded for the very smallest
work that he does, even if he were crowned with
gold and received a whole kingdom. Therefore
he should look for nothing more than getting his
bread and butter for it, and expect no reward from

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 239

the world, that is not worthy to recompense a good
work, or indeed to recognize and honor a real
Christian; and if it even knows him, it is not so
good as to thank him. Because, therefore, it is
not undertaken out of regard for the world, it
ought not to be omitted on its account; but it
should be commended to God, who will abundantly
reward it; not secretly, but openly, befoie the
whole world and all angels.

If we do not so understand and feel in this mat-
ter, we cannot perform any really good work; but
we become impatient, discontented, and allow our-
selves to be overcome by the shameful ingratitude
of the world, so that thereby this good work is
ruined and lost; and it then appears that we meant
to do it not for God's sake, but for the sake of the
people. And as for myself, I would long ago have
given the world its walking-papers and let it go to
the devil, rather than let it hear a word from me.
But it is no concern of hers, but of our dear Father
in heaven; out of love for him, and for his praise
and honor, we will preach and do good, because
all else in the world is hostile to him and most
shamefully despises and reviles him, and does all
it can to oppose and vex him; and we take our
comfort from the fact that he yet lives if all the
world perishes; and because he has declared and
promised that he will properly recompense and re-
ward it, he surely will not lie to us. Then try it,

240 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY OX THE

and you will find that it will not fail \-ou. This,
at first, in a general way, is what we have to say
in regard to almsgiving and all other good works,
how a Christian is to be disposed in heart in regard
to them, etc.

y. 5, 6. And 'cvhc7i thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the
hypocrites are; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues
and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.
Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when
thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy
door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father
which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Along with almsgiving, or doing good to our
neighbor, it is also our Christian duty to pray.
For, just as the necessities of the present life demand
that we do good to our neighbor and sympathize
with him in his need (for that is why we live to-
gether upon earth, so that one may serve and help
the other); so, because we are daily exposed in this
life to all manner of danger and need, that we can-
not avoid or turn aside, we must also ever call upon
God and seek for help, both for ourselves and every
one else.

But as proper almsgiving is a rare thing in the
world, not only because of the common robbing
and stealing that abound in the world, as no one
does good to his neighbor, and everybody scratches
on his own dung-pile, and does not ask how his
neighbor gets along; but also because if they do a
good deed, they seek only their own interests

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 24 1

thereby; so that thus the world is nothing else than
a set of robbers and thieve's, both on the right and
left, both bodily and spiritually, both in bad works
and good; just so now is praying a rare thing, that
no one does but Christians, and yet it was such a
common thing in the world, especially among the
Jews, as Christ here shows, in synagogues and at
the corners of the streets, and now in so many
churches, monasteries, nunneries, etc., muttering
and bawling day and night with singing and read-
ing, so that the world is everywhere full of it, and
there is no lack of this work, and yet taken alto-
gether it is not worth a cent.

For since Christ here rebukes and rejects all their
praying, who were nevertheless so diligently prac-
ticing it, only that they might be seen of men and
get glory; how much more is the praying of our
ecclesiastics to be condemned, who seek nothing
/else thereby than that they may fill their bellies,
* and not one of them would say Oi pater noster if he
did not get pay for it. And when they have done
their best, they have mumbled over a bag-full of
words, or intoned them, without heart, sense or
faith, just like bells or organs; they have gotten
thereby the honor and glory of being the only ones
that pray; but that the others, as occupied with
worldly affairs, cannot pray or serve God, and they
must pray in our stead, so that we may make lords
of them by our money and 00 Is.
16

242 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

But how necessary prayer is, is not to be told
here; we ought indeed ourselves to feel this, since
we live in flesh and blood that are full of all sorts
of evil tendencies; besides, we have the world
around us and against us, that causes us much
misery and affliction, and manifold trouble; and
in addition the devil is everywhere around us, who
originates innumerable sects, parties and heresies,
and drives us to unbelief, despair, etc., so that
there is no end to this, and we have no rest, be-
cause we are surrounded by these enemies who do
not cease until they have stricken us down, for we
as single poor men are much too weak for so many
enemies. Therefore God says in the prophet Zecha-
riah xii. lo, that he will give" to his own "the
spirit of grace and of supplication," wherewith
they may be sustained during their present expo-
sure, and guard and defend themselves against the
evil, harmful spirit. Therefore it is the special
work of Christians, who have the Spirit of God,
that they be not weary and idle, but pray without
ceasing, as Christ elsewhere teaches.

But now comes the test, that it be a genuine
prayer and not a hypocritical one, as theirs was,
and ours has hitherto been. Therefore Christ be-
gins by teaching them how to pray aright, and
shows how they are to go about it, namely, that
they should not stand and pray openly upon the
streets, but should pray at home, alone, in their

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 243

chamber, in secret, etc. : that is, that they should
first of all lay aside the false desire to pray for the
sake of the appearance and reputation, or anything
of that kind. Not that we are forbidden to pray
upon the street or openly; for a Christian is not
bound to any place, and may pray anywhere, upon
the street, in the field, or in church; but merely,
that it must not be done with reference to the peo-
ple, to get honor and profit from it, just as he for-
bids sounding a trumpet or bells at alms-giving —
not for that reason, but he rebukes the addition
and the false motive with these words: that they
may be seen of men.

Thus it is also not commanded as necessary that
we must go into a closet and shut the door; al-
though it is suitable for one to be alone when he
wishes to pray, as he can pour out his prayer to
God free and unhindered, and use words and ges-
tures that he could not in the presence of others.
For although prayer can take place in the heart
without any word or outward indication, yet this
helps to stir up and enkindle the spirit; but the
heart should, aside from this, be praying almost
without intermission. For a Christian (as above
said) has the spirit of supplication always present
within him, so that his heart is perpetually en-
gaged in supplication and prayer to God, whether
he is eating, drinking, laboring, etc. For his
whole life is devoted to the dissemination of the

244 Luther's commentary on the

name, honor, and kingdom of God, so that what-
ever he does ninst contribute to this.

But yet (I say) in addition to this we must also
pray ontwartily; both individually, that each per-
son use a benediction or a Lord's Prayer, or the
Creed, or a psalm, in the morning, in the evening,
at table, and when he has time, and collectively,
when they come together, handle the word of God,
and thereupon thank him and call upon him in view
of the common need. This has to be done openly,
and time and place are set apart for this purpose,
when the people assemble; this is a precious method
of prayer, and a strong defence against the devil
and his wiles, for then the whole Christian com-
munity combines with one accord, and the more
earnest the effort, the sooner the prayer is heard,
and the more efficient it is: as it is even now doing
much good, averting and hindering many artifices
of the devil, that he would otherwise employ
through his agents, so that surely what is now left
secure, both in ecclesiastical and secular affairs, is
preserved through prayer.

But what are the needful elements and character-
istics for constituting a real prayer, I have often
elsewhere said and treated of, namely, to repeat in
a word, that we are urged to it, first, by the com-
mand of God, who has strictly enjoined it upon us
to pray; then, his promise, in which he assures
that he will hear us; thirdly, our contemplation of

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 245

our need and misery, which so oppresses and bur-
dens us that we greatly need to carry this straight
to God, and pour it out before him, as he has com-
manded; fourthly, that we upon this word and
promise of God pray with true faith, in full confi-
dence that he will hear and help us; and all this
in the name of Christ, through whom our prayer
is acceptable to the Father, and for whose sake he
gives us every grace and blessing.

This Christ shows also here with the word: Pray
to thy Father in secret, etc., and afterwards more
distinctly, where he says: Our Father who art in
heaven, etc. For this amounts to sa5nng that our
prayer is to be addressed to God as to our gracious,
kind Father, not as to a tyrant or angry judge, etc.
Now no one can do that unless he has the word of
God, that he wishes to have us call him Father,
and that as a Father he has promised to hear and
help us, and that he have this faith in his heart,
so that he cheerfully dare call God his Father, and
pray with hearty confidence, and rely upon this
prayer, as assuredly heard, and await help.

But there were none of these elements in that
Pharisaic prayer, for they thought no further than
how the work was to be done, so that they might
be looked upon as holy people, who like to pray;
or like our monks and priests, so that they may
fill their belly by it. Yes, they are so far from
holding that they ought to pray with such faith,

246 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

that they have regarded it as a folly and presump-
tion that one should congratulate himself upon the
certainty that his prayer is acceptable to God and
heard by him; and thus, although they prayed,
they counted everything as a pure venture, and
thereby grievously angered God by unbelief and
abuse of his name, against the first and second
commandments.

Therefore learn here that no true prayer can be
offered without this faith. Do you, however, feel
weak and timid? for flesh and blood always hinder
faith, as if you were not worthy or fit and in earn-
est to pray; or do you doubt whether God has
heard you, because you are a sinner? then cling to
the word and say: Though I am a sinner and un-
worthy, yet I have the command of God, that tells
me to pray, and his promise that he will graciously
hear me, not because of my worthiness, but for the
sake of the Lord Christ. By this means 3'^ou can
drive away the thoughts and doubts, and cheer-
fully kneel down and pray, not regarding your
worthiness or unworthiness, but your need and his
word upon which he tells you to build; especially
since he has placed before you and put into your
mouth the words how and what you are to pray for
(as follows), so that you joyously send up these
prayers through him, and can lay them in his
'bosom, that he may lay them by his own worthi-
ness before the Father.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 247

V. 7-13. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the
heathen do : for they think they shall be heard for their much
speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them : for your Father
knoweih what things ye have need of before ye ask hint. Ajter
this manner therefore pray ye : Our Father which art in heaven,
Halloiued be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done
in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors ; And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from, evil : For thine is
the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

He rebuked above their wrong intention iii
prayer, as they sought their own honor and profit
among the people even in doing that which was di-
rected to God alone, calling upon him and beseech-
ing him for help in our need and temptation.
Here he is rebuking this perversion of prayer, that
they suppose it is praying if one uses many words
and vain repetitions, and he calls it a heathenish
method, a trifling useless prattle, as of those who
suppose they will otherwise not be heard. For he
saw very well that this would be the case, and that
such an abuse would continue in Christendom, as
it existed among them already at that time, so that
prayer would be made a mere work, that would be
valued in proportion to its size and length, as if
thereby it were admirably done, and thus instead
of a true prayer there was a mere prattle and bali)-
bling, of which the heart knew nothing.

Thus, as we see, it was carried on in monasteries,
nunneries and the whole ecclesiastical crowd, that
seem to have had nothingf else to do in their call-

248 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY OX THE

ing than to weary themselves daily so many hours,
and at night besides, with singing and reading
their Horas; and the more of this they could do,
the holier and greater worship they called it.. And
yet among them all there was not one that uttered
a real prayer from his heart: but they were all filled
with the heathenish notion that one must tire God
and one's self with crying and muttering, as if he
neither could nor would otlierwise hear; and they
have thereby accomplished nothing else than to
waste their time and punish themselves like asses,
with their praying.

Therefore they have themselves said that there is
no harder work than to pray; and that is in fact
true, if you aim to make a work or labor out of
your praying, imposing upon your bod\- to read or
sing so many hours continuously, so that any day
laborer would rather choose to thresh for a whole
day, than only to move his mouth for two or three
hours one after another, or look straight into a
book. In short their prayer was not a sighing or
desire of the heart, but a mere force-work of the
mouth or tongue: so that if a monk has been read-
ing or muttering his Horas for forty years, he has
not prayed from his heart for an hour during all
that time. For they never think of presenting
their wants before God in their prayers, but they
think only that they must do it, and God must re-
gard this trouble and toil.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT- 249

But the Christian's prayer, which is offered in
faith upon the promise of God, and presents before
him from the heart its need, that is easy, and oc-
casions no labor. For faith soon tells what it wants,
yes, with a sigh that the heart utters and that can-
not be reached or uttered in words, as Paul says.
The Christian prays, and because he knows that
God hears him, he does not need to prate everlast-
ingly. Thus the saints in the Scriptures prayed,
as Blijah, Elisha, David and others, with short, but
strong and powerful words; as we see in the Psalms,
in which there is hardly one that has a prayer of
more than five or six verses. Therefore the old
fathers have very properly said, there is no use in
many, long prayers, but they praise the short ejacu-
latory prayers, in which one lifts a sigh heaven-
ward with a word or two; which one can do very
often when he is reading, writing, or doing some
other work.

But the others, who make only a huge labor out
of it, can never pray with satisfaction or with de-
votion, but they are glad when they are through
with their babbling; for it must be so, if one prays
without faith and with no feeling of need, thus
there can be no heart in it: but if the heart is not
in it, and the body is to do the work, then it be-
comes difficult and vexatious; as we see also in sec-
ular labor: he who does anything unwillingly, how
difiicult and disagreeable it is; but on the contrary,

250 luthkr's commentary on the

if the heart is cheerful and willing, then it takes no
notice of the work. So also it is here; if one is
in earnest about it, and takes pleasure in prayer,
then he neither knows nor feels any labor or trouble,
but looks only at his need, and has finished singing
or praying the words before he knows what he is
about. In short, one should pray short, but often
and strongly; for God does not ask how much and
long one has prayed, but how good it is and how it
comes from the heart.

Therefore Christ now says: Your Heavenly
Father knows what you need before you ask for it;
as if he would say: What are you about, that you
think to overwhelm him with your long babbling,
so that he may give you what you need? You do
not need to convince him with words, or instruct
him at length; for^ he knows beforehand better
what you need than you do yourselves. Just as if
you were to come before a prince or a judge who
knew your case better than you could describe it to
him, and you would undertake to make a long
story to inform him about it, he would rightly
laugh at you, or rather be offended at you. Yes,
we do not know, says St. Paul, how we are to pray;
so that, if he hears us and gives us something, he
gives it above what we can understand or hope for.
Therefore sometimes he lets us ask for something
that he does not soon give, or indeed does not give
at all, as knowing very well what we need or what

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 25I

would be useful to us or not; what we ourselves
do not see, and at last must ourselves confess that
it would not have been good for us if he had given
to us in accordance with our prayer. Therefore we
need not teach him or prescribe with our long bab-
bling what and how he is to give to us: for he will
give in such a way that his name may be hallowed
and his kingdom and his will may be advanced and
promoted, etc.

But do you say: Why then does he let us pray
and present our need, and does not give it to us un-
asked, since he knows and sees all our need better
than we do ? He gives surely to the whole world
daily so much good freely, as sun, rain, corn,
money, body, life, etc., which no one asks or is
grateful for; as he knows that they cannot get
along for a single day without light, eating and
drinking; why does he then tell us to pray for
these things? Answer: He does not require it, in-
deed, for the reason that we are to teach him this
with our praying, viz., what he is to give us, but
in order that we may acknowledge and confess
what kind of blessings he is bestowing upon us,
and yet much more he can and will give; so that
we by our praying are rather instructing ourselves
than hi-m. For thereby I am turned about, that I
do not go along like the ungodly that never ac-
knowledge this or offer thanks for it; and my heart
is thus turned to him and aroused, so that I praise

252 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

and thank liiiii, and have recourse to him in time
of need and look for help from him; and the effect
of all this is that I learn more and more to ac-
knowledge what kind of a God he is; and because
I address my supplications to him, he is the more
disposed to answer me abundantly. See, this is
now a genuine supplicant, not like those other use-
less talkers, who babble indeed a great deal, but
never acknowledge this. But he knows that what
he has is the gift of God, and he says from his
heart: Lord, I know that I cannot of myself pro-
duce or get a piece of my daily bread, or shield my-
self against any kind of need or misfortune; there-
fore I will- await it and beseech it from thee, as
thou dost teach me, and dost promise to give me,
as he who is ready with favors regardless of my
thoughts, and who anticipates my need.

See, such acknowledgment in prayer is pleasing
to God, and is the true, highest and most precious
worship which we can render to him; for thereby
the honor and gratitude that are due are given to
him. This the others do not do, but they seize
and devour all the gifts of God, just as hogs; they
appropriate one country, city, house, after another;
never think of paying any regard to God; want
meanwhile to be holy with their great intonations
and babbling in the churches. But a Christian
heart, that learns out of the word of God, that we
have evervthinof from God and nothing^ from our-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 253

selves, sucli a heart accepts this in faith and
familiarizes itself with it, so that it can look to
him for everything and expect it from him. Thus
praying teaches ns, so that we recognize both our-
selves and God, and learn what we need and
whence we are to seek for it and get it. Thus
there is developed an excellent, sensible man, who
can readily adapt himself to all circumstances.

Christ, having thus rebuked and rejected these
false and useless prayers, proceeds himself to give
an excellent brief form, how and what we are to
pray, that embraces all kinds of wants that are to
drive us to prayer, so that we can daily remind
ourselves of them in such short words, and no one
may be excused, as though he did not know how
or what he is to pray; and it is a very good practice
especially for ordinary people, children and house
servants, to pray the whole of the Lord's prayer
daily, morning and evening and at table, and also
at other times, so that one may present to God in
it all our needs in general. Since, however, the
Lord's Prayer is sufficiently expounded in the
Catechism and elsewhere, I will add no further
comments at present.

It is, however, as has often been said, surely the
very best prayer that was ever uttered upon earth,
or that any one could conceive, since God the
Father gave it through his Son, and laid it upon
his lips; so that we dare not doubt that it is ex-

254 LUTHER'S COMME^STTARY ON THE

treniely pleasing to him. He admonishes us at the
very beginning, both concerning' his command and
his promise, in the word: " Our Father," etc. , as
the one who demands from us this honor, that we
are to ask from him, as a child from its father, and
he wants us to have the confidence that he will
gladly give us what we need; and this is further
also a part of it, that we glory in being his children
through Christ; and thus we come in accordance
with his command and promise, and in the name
of the Lord Christ, and appear before him with all
confidence.

Now, the first, second and third petitions refer
to the highest benefits that we receive from him:
namely, first, because he is our Father, that he may
have his honor from us, and his name be held in
high honor in all the world. Herewith I gather into
one heap all sorts of false belief and worship, the
whole of hell, all sin and blasphemy, and pray that
he may put a stop to the abominable belief of the
pope, the Turks, the factious spirits and heretics,
all of whom desecrate and abuse his name, or
under his name seek their own honor. There are
indeed but few words, but their meaning is as wide
as the world, against all false doctrine and life.
Secondly, after we have his word and true doctrine
and worship, that also his kingdom may be and
remain in us, that is, that he may control us in
this doctrine and life, and thereby protect and pre-

SKRMON Ori THE MOUNT. 255

serve us against all the power of the devil and of
his kingdom, and that all the kingdoms that rage
against it may go to destruction, so that this king-
dom may stand. And, thirdly, that not our will,
nor that of any man, but alone his will may be
done, and that what he thinks and advises may
succeed, in opposition to all designs and under-
takings of the world and whatever may strive
against this will and counsel, even if the whole
world masses itself and struggles to maintain its
antagonistic cause. These are the three most im-
portant topics.

In the other four petitions we find ourselves con-
fronted by the need that daily meets us on our own
account, with reference to this poor, weak, tem-
poral life. Therefore we pray, in the first place,
that he may give us our daily bread, that is, every-
thing that is needful for the preservation of this
life: food, a healthy body, good weather, house,
home, wife, child, good government, peace, and
that he may preserve us from all manner of calam-
ity, sickness, pestilence, dear times, war, insur-
rection, etc. Then, that he may forgive us our
trespasses, and not regard the shameful misuse of
and ingratitude for the blessings which he daily so
richly bestows upon us, and that he may not for
this reason refuse and deny us these or punish us
with the disfavor that we deserve; but graciously
forgive us, although we, who are called Christians

256 LUTHER'S COMME^'TARY ON THE

and hiscliildren, do not live as we should. Tliirdly,
I because we are living upon earth, in tlie midst of
' all manner of temptation and vexation, where we
are assaulted on every side, so that we are hin-
I dered, and are tempted not alone outwardly by the;
! world and the devil, but also inwardly by our own
flesh, so that we cannot live as we should, nor be
able to endure for a day amid so much danger and
temptation; we pray therefore that amid this dan-
ger and need he may sustain us, so that we are not
thereby overcome and ruined. And, finally, that
he may at last wholly deliver us from all evil, and
when the time comes, that we are to pass out of
this life, may grant us a gracious, happy dying
hour. Thus we have laid upon his bosom briefly
all our bodily and spiritual need, and in a few
words have gathered up a world of meaning.

But there is in the text a small appendage that
closes the prayer, as with a common grateful con-
fession; which is this: For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, for ever. These are
the proper titles and names that belong to God
alone. For these three things he has reserved for
himself, that is, to govern, to judge, and to glory.
No one has a right to rule or have supremacy ex-
cept God alone, or those to whom he has entrusted
it, through whom as his servants he exercises the
control. Likewise no man has a right to judge an-
other, or to be angry and punish, except he who

SERMON Oli THE MOUNT. 257

holds the office by divine appointment. For it is
not a natural right of men, but one given by God.

These are the two, that he here calls the king-
dom, or the sovereignty, so that all authority may
be his; and then, the power, that is, the result of
the deciding, exsecutio^ so that he can punish, hold
the wicked in subjection and protect the pious.
For he who punishes, does it in God's stead, and it
is all owing to his power that one handles justice,
protects and sustains. Therefore let no one avenge
himself or punish, for it is not his office or sphere,
and it does not avail; as he says: Vengeance is
mine, I will repay; and elsewhere he threatens: He
who takes the sword, shall perish by the sword.

So also the glory, or honor, is alone God's own,
so that no one may boast of anything, of his wis-
dom, holiness or ability, except through him and
from him. For, that I honor a king or prince and
call him Gracious Lord, or bend the knee before
him, this is not done on account of his person, but
on God's account, as he is sitting in majesty in
God's stead. So, when I show honor to father and
mother, or to those who are in their stead, I do
this not to man, but to the divine office, and I
honor God in them; thus, where there is authority
and power, to this is due honor and glory.

And thus his kingdom, power and glory prei^ail
in the whole world, so that he alone rules, punishes
and is glorified in the divine offices and estates, as
17

258 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

father, mother, master, judge, prince, king, em-
peror, etc., although the devil, through his agents,
opposes himself and aims to hold the authority and
power, exercise vengeance and punishment and
monopolize all the glory. Therefore we pray also
especially for his name, his kingdom and his will,
as those that alone should avail, and that all other
names, kingdoms, power and will may go to de-
struction; and we thus confess that he is the high-
est in all these three respects, but the others are his
instruments, by which he acts and accomplishes
these things.

V. 14, 15. '^ For if ye forgive men their tresspasses, your
heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not
men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses.

That is a remarkable addition, but a very pre-
cious one; and any one may well wonder how he
happens to add such an appendix to this particular
petition: Forgive us our trespasses, etc., whilst he
might just as well have added also such a fragment
to one of the others, and have said: Give us our
daily bread, as we give to our children; or. Lead us
not into temptation, as we tempt no one; Deliver
us from evil, as we rescue and deliver our neighbor;
and yet no petition has anything added to it except
this one. And it looks besides as if the forgiveness
of sins was gained and merited by our forgiving:
what would then become of our doctrine that for-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 259

giveuess comes alone tlirougli Christ and is re-
ceived by faith? Answer to the first: He meant
especially to state this petition in such a way, and
to link the forgiveness of sin to our forgiving, so
that hereby he would obligate the Christians to love
each other, and to make this their main and fore-
most duty, next to faith -and the reception of for-
giveness, to be constantly forgiving their neighbor;
so that, as we live in faith toward him, so also to-
wards our neighbor in love, that we do not vex or
injure others, but think that we always forgive
although we are injured (as this must often happen
in this life); or we are to know that we are also not
forgiven. For if anger and ill-will be present, this
spoils the whole prayer, so that one cannot pray or
wish any of the former petitions. See, this means
the making of a firm and strong bond, by which
we are held together, so that we do not become dis-
united, and create divisions, parties and sects, in-
stead of our coming before God, to pray and get
what we need: but we are to forbear with one
another through love, and remain of one accord. If
this be the case, the Christian man is perfect, as
both believing and loving aright. What other
faults he may have, these are consumed in the
prayer, and all is forgiven and cancelled.

But how does he attach in these words forgive-
ness to our doing when he says: If you forgive
your neighbor, you shall be forgiven, and again,

26o LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

etc.? Does not that make forgiveness depend npon
faith? Answer: The forgiveness of sin, as I have
often said elsewhere, occurs in two ways; first,
through the Gospel and the word of God, which is
received internally in the heart before God, through
faith; secondly, externally, by works, of which 2
Peter i. 10 says, when he is teaching about good
works: Dear brethren, be diligent to make your call-
ing and election sure, etc. Here he means, that we
are to make this sure, that we have faith and the for-
giveness of sin, that is, that we show the works, so
that one may tell the tree by the fruits, and that it
may be manifest that it is a good and not an evil tree.
For where there is true faith, there assuredly good
works will follow. In this way a man is both in-
wardly and outwardly pious and upright, both be-
fore God and man. For this is the result and the
fruit, with which I make myself and others sure
that I am a true believer; which I cannot otherwise
know or see.

So also here the external forgiveness which I
practically show is a sure sign that I have the di-
vine forgiveness of my sins. Again, if this is not
shown towards my neighbor, then I have a sure
proof that I am not forgiven before God, but am
still in unbelief See, this is the twofold forgive-
ness; one internal in the heart, that clings alone
to the word of God; and one external, that breaks
forth, and assures us that we have the internal
one.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 26l

Thus we distinguish works from faith, as an in-
ternal and external righteousness; but in such a way
that the internal is there first, as the root and stem
from which the good works as the fruit must grow;
the external, however, their witness, and as Peter
says, certification an assurance that the other is cer-
tainly there. For he who has not the internal
righteousness, he does none of the external works.
Again, if the external signs and proofs be wanting,
I cannot be sure of the former, but am deceiving
both myself and others. But if I see and feel that
I am gladly forgiving my neighbor, then I can
conclude and say: I do not this work naturally, but
I feel myself through the grace of God disposed
otherwise than before.

This is a short answer to the twaddle of the
sophists. But this is also true, that this work, as
he here calls it, is not a mere work like others that
we do of ourselves; for faith is not thereby over-
looked. For he takes this work and plants a
promise upon it, so that one might honestly call it
a sacrament, thereby to strengthen faith. Just as
baptism too is to be regarded as a work that I do,
when I baptize or am baptized; but because God's
word is associated with it, it is not a mere work, as
that which itself avails or effects something: but a
divine word and token upon which faith rests.
Thus also, our prayer, as our work, would not
avail or effect anything; but its efiicacy comes

262 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

from this, that it is done in accordance with his
command and promise, so that it may well be re-
garded as a sacrament, and rather as "a divine work
than as one of our own.

I say this for this reason, because the sophists
look at the works that we do, only by themselves,
aside from God's word and promise. Therefore,
when they hear and read these passages that refer
to works, they must indeed say that man merits
this by his doing. But the Scriptures teach thus:
that we are not to look to ourselves, but to God's
word and promise, and cling to this by faith, so
that, if you do a work prompted by the word and
promise, then you have a sure proof that God is
gracious to you; in such a way that your own work,
that God has now taken to himself, is to be to you
a sure proof of forgiveness, etc.

Now God has provided various ways, modes and
manners, through which we obtain grace and the
forgiveness of sins; as, first, baptism and the sacra-
ment; also (as just said) prayer; also absolution;
and here our forgiveness; so that we are richly pro-
vided for, and can find grace and mercy everywhere.
For where would you seek it nearer than with your
neighbor, with whom you are daily living, and
have daily occasion to practice this forgiveness?
For it cannot be that you are not much and often
offended: so that we have not only in church or
with the priest, but in the midst of our life, a daily

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 263

sacrament or baptism, one brother with another,
and every one at home in his house. For if you
take hold of the promise through this work, you
have the very thing that you get in baptism. How
could God be more richly gracious to us than by
hanging about our neck such a common baptism,
and binding it to the Lord's prayer, which [bap-
tism] every one realizes in himself when he prays
and forgives his neighbor? So that no one has
cause to complain or to excuse himself, that he
cannot bring himself to it, and it is too high and
far off for him, or too heavy and dear, since it is
brought home to him and his neighbor, right be-
fore his door, yes, put into his bosom.

See, if you look at it, not with reference to
the work itself, but with reference to the word
which is associated with it, you find it an ex-
cellent, precious treasure, so that it is no longer
your work but a divine sacrament; and it is a pow-
erful consolation that you can attain to the grace
of forgiving your neighbor, although you may not
be able to come to other sacraments. This ought
to induce you willingly to do this work from the
heart, and to be thankful to God that you are
worthy of this grace: you ought surely to run after
this to the end of the world, and spend all your
means for it; as we used to do for the fictitious in-
dulgences. He who will not receive this must be
a shameful, cursed man, especially if he hears of

264 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

and recognizes this grace, and yet remains so
crooked and stubborn that he will not forgive,
whereby he at once loses both baptism and sacra-
ment and everything else. For they are all linked
together, so that he who has one should have them
all, or retain none. For he who has been baptized
ought also to receive the sacrament; and he who
receives the sacrament must also pray; and he who
prays must also forgive, etc. If }'ou do not forgive,
5'ou have here a fearful sentence, that \our sins
also shall not be forgiven, although you are among
Christians and are enjoying the sacrament and
other blessings; but these will be all the more in-
jurious and condemnatory for you.

And that Christ may the more incite us to do
this, he has employed kind, friendly words, saying:
If ye forgive men their trespasses, etc. He does not
say: their wickedness and villainy, or perverseness
and vice, etc. For by a trespass he means such a
sin as is committed rather through weakness or
ignorance than from malice. Why does he thus
minimize and reduce the sin of our neighbor — for
we often see that many a one sins deliberateh',
from sheer wickedness and an evil will? He does
it for the reason that he wishes to allay your anger,
and soften 5'OU, that you may willingly forgive,
and he is more concerned to make your heart sweet
and friendly than to make the sin as great as it is
. in itself.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 265

For before God it is and must be so great, that
it deserves eternal condemnation, and excludes
from heaven, even though it be a small sin, and
only a fault, if one does not acknowledge, and ask
your pardon for it. But he does not mean that the
sin should be thus regarded by you and me, whose
prerogative it is not to punish sin, but to forgive it;
so that you should think thus: Although your
neighbor has done something against you through
malice, yet he is still misled, taken captive and
blinded by the devil. Therefore you ought to be
so pious as to rather pity him, who is overcome by
the devil, so that it may be called a great, unpar-
donable sin, on the part of the devil who has put
him up to it, but on the part of your neighbor, a
failure and fault; as Christ also himself has done
toward us, when he prayed on the cross: Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do.
That was making our sin small and of little ac-
count, which is yet in itself the very greatest that
was ever committed on earth. For what greater
sin can be committed than most shamefully to tor-
ture and kill the only-begotten Son of God?

Yet you must so interpret this error and fault
that your neighbor who has sinned against you may
acknowledge it, and request forgiveness and desire
to reform. For I have elsewhere said that there are
two kinds of sin; one that is confessed, which no
one should leave unforgiven; the other which is de-

266 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

fended — this one none can forgive, for it will not be
regarded as sin or accepted as forgiveness. There-
fore, also Christ, Matt, xviii. i8, where he is speak-
ing of forgiveness or the keys, places both side by
side, binding and loosing; to show that one cannot
absolve the sin which one will not acknowledge to
be sin or have forgiven, but must bind it in the depth
of hell; but on the other hand, those which are
confessed we are to absolve and raise to heaven, etc.
Just as it is with the office of the keys, so is it
also with each Christian in regard to his neighbor;
who, although he should be ready to forgive every
one that injures him, yet, if any one will not ac-
knowledge and refrain from sin, but besides will
continue in it, you cannot forgive him; and this
not on your account, but on his, because he will not
have forgiveness. But so soon as he acknowledges
his guilt and asks forgiveness, everything must be
granted, and the absolution follow promptly. For
since he rebukes himself and forsakes his sins, so
that no sin any longer adheres to him, I should the
rather pass them by; if he however himself clings
to them, and will not forsake them, I cannot take
them from him, but must let him lie in them,
making for himself out of a pardonable sin an un-
pardonable one. In short, if he will not recognize
himself, we must burden his conscience as heavily
as possible and show no mercy, as he will perversely
be the devil's own. On the other hand, if he con-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 267

fesses his sin, and seeks your pardon, and you
refuse to forgive, then you have laden it upon
yourself, so that it will condemn you too.

Thus Christ intends also that the sin be con-
fessed, inasmuch as he still calls it a transgression;
he does not mean to deny that it is wrong, or to
impose it upon you to sanction it as properly done,
or treat it as right or good; only if it have become
pardonable, and of so small an account as to be
called only a fault, that you then say to your
neighbor: Although I cannot praise it, and- it is
wrong, yet, since you acknowledge your error and
your heart is now changed, and you have no ill-will
against me, I will also gladly overlook it as a fault
and oversight, and will forget my anger.

If you now are thus disposed towards your neigh-
bor, God will also show himself again towards you
with a sweet friendly heart, and he will make your
great, heavy sin that you have committed against
him, and are still committing, of such small ac-
count that he calls it only a fault, if you acknowl-
edge it and pray for forgiveness, as he is more
inclined to forgive than we can expect him to be.
Now you should offer your body and life to God
for such a heart, and seek for it to the end of the
world; as they used to seek for it in the papacy,
and worried themselves for it with many kinds of
works. Now there is here such a heart offered to
you, presented and given altogether gratuitously,

268 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

just as baptism, the gospel and all its blessings;
and you get more than you with all your works
and those of all men could acquire. For here you
have the sure promise that cannot belie or deceive
you, that all your sins, however many or great they
may be, shall be before him as small as human
daily weaknesses, which he will not conut or re-
member so far as you have faith in Christ. For
just as other sacraments originate in and operate
through the Lord Christ; so also, that our prayer
is heard and, we have certain forgiveness; that we
have not deserved it, but all is acquired through
him and bestowed upon us; so that he always re-
mains the sole Mediator, through whom we have
everything, so that also the forgiveness based upon
this work avails alone through him.

So you see now why Christ added this append-
age to the prayer, so that he might thereby nnite
us the more closely together, and preserve his fol-
lowers in unity of spirit, both in faith and love, so
that we do not allow ourselves to be separated on
account of any sin or fault, that we may not lose
faith and everything else. For it cannot be other-
wise than that many offenses will daily occur
amongst us in all callings and kinds of business,
when we are saying and doing towards one another
what one does not like to hear or endure, and give
occasion to wrath and contention. For we still
have our flesh and blood, that acts after its own

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 269

fashion, and easily lets slip an evil word, or an
angry sign or deed, by which love is wounded, in
such" a wa)- that there must be much forgiveness
among Christians; as we also incessantly need for-
giveness from God, and must always cling to the
prayer: Forgive us, as we forgive; unless we are
such ungodly people, that we always more readily
see a mote in our neighbor's eye than the beam in
our own, and throw our sins behind us. For, if
we should look at ourselves daily from morning till
evening, we should find so many cleaving to us
that we should forget other people, and be glad
that we could engage in prayer.

V. 16-18. Moreover luhen ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of
a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may
appear unto men to fast. Verity, I say unto you, they have their
reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head and wash
thy face ; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy
Father which is in secret ; and thy Father which seeth in secret
shall reioard thee openly.

As he rebuked their almsgiving and praying, so
does he here rebuke their fasting. For these are
about the three good works that comprehend all
the rest: the first, all kinds of good deeds toward
our neighbor; the second, that we are concerned
about all manner of needs, both those of others and
our own, and bring them before God; the third,
that we mortify our body. But, as they had shame-
fully abused both almsgiving and praying, so that

270 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

they thereby sought not God's honor but their own
glory; so did they also abuse and pervert fasting,
not to keep their own body under constraint and in
discipline, nor to praise and thank God; but to be
seen of men, and have a name, so that people
would have to be astonished, and say: O these are
excellent saints, who do not live like other com-
mon people, but go about in gray coats, hanging
their heads, looking sad and pale, etc. If these do
not get to heaven, what will become of the rest
of us?

But he does not mean to have fasting in itself
rejected or despised, just as little as he rejects alms-
giving and praying, but he rather confirms these,
and teaches how to use them aright: so he means
to properly restore fasting, so that it be rightly
used and properly understood, .as should be the
case with a good work.

It originated among the Jews, when IMoses com-
manded them to fast about fourteen consecutive
days, in the autumn, at the feast of expiation.
That was the common fast, which they all observed
at the same time. In addition the Pharisees had
their special fasts, so that they did something more
and were counted more holy than others. For that
fast was not appointed that they might thereby be
seen and observed by others, since it was kept by
all the people; and what is common to all, with that
no one can specially distinguish himself There-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 27I

fore they had to undertake many special fasts, that
they might be seen, as much higher and more
spiritual than common people; hence they also
boast in the gospel against Christ: Why do the
disciples of the Pharisees fast so often, and thy
disciples do not fast? etc. Besides, they assumed
distinguishing attitudes and marks by which it
should be known when they were fasting; they
disfigured their faces, so that they did not wash or
anoint themselves, but looked sad and gloomy, and
put on such a wonderful earnestness that men had
to talk and sing about it, etc.

Now comes Christ and demolishes this fasting,
and teaches the direct contrary, and says: If you
wish to fast, then fast in such a way that you do
not have a sad countenance; but wash and anoint
your face, so that you appear merry and cheerful,
as on a holiday, so that no difference is noticeable
between your fasting and keeping holiday. For it
was customary among the Jews for them to sprinkle
their bodies with aromatic water and anoint their
heads, so that their whole person was fragrant when
they were keeping a holiday or wanted to be
cheerful. If you fast in this way, between your-
self and your Father alone, then 5^ou have fasted
rightly, so that it pleases him; but not as if it were
forbidden on a fast day to wear poor clothes or go
unwashed; but the notion is rejected that it is to
be done for the sake of the reputation, and in order

272 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

to make people open their eyes at your peculiar
way of doing it. Indeed we often read of how they
fasted, putting on sackcloth and casting ashes on
their heads; as in the case of the king of Nineveh
and the whole city. But that was another kind of
fasting that their need and misery taught them.

Now, we have copied from the Jews our great
fasting season, and at first kept fourteen days;
then we became holier, and stretched this out to
four weeks, until at last it was drawn out to forty
days; but, not content with that, we have set apart
besides two days in every week throughout the
year for fasting, the Friday and Saturday; finally
the four golden or compulsory fasts; these were
yet all common or general fasts: besides this, the
advent season found some special saints who made
a fast out of that, aside from what the monks in
monasteries observed; and then every one selected
some special saints in addition to the general fasts,
until the result was that all of this was of no ac-
count if each one did not make his own fast.

Now such fasting as thig all taken together is
not worth a penny. For the primitive fathers may
indeed have meant it well and observed the fasts
properly; but it soon was overdone and ruined by
the filth, so that it was of no account. And it got
what it deserved. For as this wonderful multipli-
cation of fasts was mere human trifling, so it soon
degenerated into shameful abuse. For I may lion-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 273

esth" say that I never saw a genuine fast in the
papacy, in what they call fasting. For what kind
of a fast is that for me, when they prepare a meal
at noon of costly fish, excellently spiced, more and
better than for two or three other meals, and the
strongest drink besides, and spend an hour or three
at it until they have filled their belly full? And
that was a common thing and a trifle even among
the very strictest monks. But the holy fathers,
the bishops, abbots and other prelates got at it in
earnest at once with ten and twenty courses, and
at night took so much refreshment that several
threshers could have fed for three days upon it. It
may well be that some prisoners, or poor and sickly
people, have had to fast through poverty; but I
know of no one who fasted for the sake of devotion,
and still less now. But now these, my dear papists,
have all become good Lutherans, so that none of
them thinks any more about fasting; but mean-
while they let our poor pastors have hunger and
trouble and hold a real daily fast in their stead.

Since then this fasting has turned out to be a
great deal worse than that of the Jews and Phari-
sees, who did honestly and truly fast, only that
they sought their own honor thereby; but ours
under the name of fasting has become a mere feast-
ing, and is no fast, but a mockery of God and of
the people; besides having the disgraceful addition
of making a distinction in the kinds of food, and
18

274 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

forbidding the use of some, so that they call only
that fasting if one abstains from the use of meat,
but meanwhile have the best fish with excellent
condiments and spices and the strongest wine;
therefore I have advised, and do still advise, that we
trample such fasting under our feet as an abomi-
nable mockery of God; so that it vexes me that
men should carry on and endure this blasphemy in
Christendom, and deceive God with the mask of
calling such a life of high living and belly-filling a
fast and a good work.

This is now a gross, shameless, disgraceful de-
ception, which does not need the Scriptures for a
rebuke, but every peasant, yes a child of seven
years, can comprehend and understand. But they
have also added the still more disgraceful abuse
(which ruins even true fasting), that the}- sought
thereby great merit before God, as thereby to atone
for sin and propitiate God; so they impose this
fasting as penance in absolution. That is really
fasting in the nauie of all the devils, smiting Christ
in the mouth and trampling him under foot: so
that so far as abuse is concerned, if something bad
must be done, I would sooner allow that one should
guzzle to repletion; and I would rather see a gorged
sow, if I have to look at filth, than such a saint who
fasts most strictly on water and bread.

The teaching and books of all the monks, the
papal bulls, all the pulpits, are still full of this

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 275

abomination, so that they know nothing of any
other fasting when they are doing their very best.
I will say nothing about their magnifying the
gross, shameful, lying fasts of which we have
spoken, and their thereby establishing and confirm-
ing the worship of the saints; and no one has been
found to say a word against these abuses. There-
fore I still assert that all my life long I never saw
in all the papacy a fast that was a truly Christian
one; but only disgraceful fasting and feasting, in-
stead of real fasting, and, along with that, sheer
idolatry and hypocrisy, whereby God was insulted
and the people deceived. Therefore let us learn
here what it means to fast aright.

There are two kinds of fasts that are good and
commendable; one may be called a secular or civil
fast, ordered by the government, as any other ordi-
nance or command of the authorities, not demanded
as a good work or a divine service. For that I
would like to see, and would advise and help to
bring it about, that the emperor or prince should
issue the order that for one or two days in the week
no meat should be eaten or sold, as a good useful
ordinance for the country, so that everything
should not be gobbled up, as is now done, until at
last dear times miwt come and nothing is to be had.
After that, I would be glad if at certain times,
once a week, or as might be thought best, people
did not have a meal in the evening, except a bit

276 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

of bread and a drink, so that everything is not con-
sumed with incessant gormandizing and swilling,
as we Germans do, and that we should learn to live
temperatel}-, especially the young, plump, strong
people. But that should be an entirely secular
matter, subject to the temporal authority.

In addition to this there should be also a general
spiritual fast, which we Christians should observe,
and it would be a good arrangement to hold a gen-
eral fast a few days before Easter, Whitsuntide and
Christmas, and thus distribute the fasts through
the year. But by all means not for the purpose of
making an act of worship out of it, to merit some-
thing by it, or to propitiate God; but as an external
Christian discipline and exercise for the }oung and
simple people, that they may learn to adapt them-
selves to the times, and to make the needful distinc-
tions throughout the year; as we have hitherto kept
the four ember-weeks, that every one was guided
by. For we must distinguish and mark off certain
times for the rude common crowd, as fast and feast
days, for preaching and commemorating the prin-
cipal events of the life of Christ; in such a way
that thereby no special divine service is aimed at,
but only a memorial day, whereby one can divide
up the whole year and tell what special time it is.
So I would have no objection to people fasting on
every Friday evening throughout the whole year,
setting it apart as a day to be distinctly marked.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 277

But such fasting I neither can nor will inaugurate,
unless it were beforehand harmoniously agreed
upon. See, thus the Christian Church would have
plenty of fasting to do, so that they could not
blame us for despising and entirely refusing to
fast.

But this is also still not the real Christian fast-
ing that Christ has in view, which has special re-
ference to each person in particular, and which, if
it is to deserve the name of true Christian fasting,
must be done thus, not merely by not eating in the
evening, which is only a part of it, and the very
least part; but it consists in your disciplining and
restraining your body. This relates not only to
eating, drinking, sleeping, etc., but also to being
idle, indulging in sports, and everything that
pleases and pampers the body. True fasting means
quitting and refraining from all such things, and
solely in order to curb and humiliate the flesh; as
the Scriptures inculcate fasting, and call it ajfli-
gere aniniani^ to mortify the body, etc., so that it
renounce .voluptuousness, high living, pleasure.
This was the fasting of the primitive fathers; they
ate nothing the whole day, went about sorrowing,
and denied the body everything, so far as nature
would allow it.

This fasting we now meet with rarely, especially
among our spiritual monks and priests. For the
Carthusians, who claim to lead the strictest lives.

278 i,uther's commentary on the

do not practice it, although they make some pre-
tence of doing it, by wearing a dress of haircloth;
but they gormandize, nevertheless, and cram their
belly full of the best food and drink, and without
any care live most luxuriously. No; it does not
mean thus to quibble and deceive, but it demands
the mortification of the body, and withholding
from it all that pleases and gratifies it; and even if
they did really fast aright, yet they would still
make a devilish abuse of it by basing their holiness
upon it and claiming to get something special from
God by it, etc. Therefore, we are not to build
anything upon it, although our fasting may be of
the very best kind. For there may be a secret
scoundrel lurking behind it, against faith or love;
as also the prophet Isaiah, Iviii. 3, (as quoted
above) rebukes the fasting, by which they morti-
fied their bodies, but at the same time cheated and
oppressed their debtors, etc. Thus Christ also
rejected the fasting of the Pharisees ; not that they
did not honestly fast, but because they sought
thereby their own glory and honor, etc.

Therefore, very much is needed to make fasting
a truly good work, and pleasing to God. For he
cannot at all endure it that you pay your court to
him with your fasting as a great saint, and yet at
the same time cherish hatred and wrath against
your neighbor, etc. ; but if you want to fast prop-
erly, bear in mind that you are first to be a pious

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 279

man, and have both genuine faith and love. For
this business has to do not with God or our neigh-
bor, but with our own body, etc. But nobody-
wants to do this. Therefore, I may well say, that
I have never seen any real fasting. For there has
been nothing but half and fragmentary fasting, and
a miserable deception, when they, for appearance
sake, break off a meal, but nevertheless daily tickle
the body; except that now in the case of some
pious preachers and pastors in the villages and
elsewhere, who have to do it from necessity, and
besides suffer reproach, ridicule and all manner of
annoyance, and get from no one as much as a piece
of bread. With these there is neither pleasure, nor
show, nor easy times; these are they who wander
in the world, whom no one knows, of whom the
world is not worthy (as is said in the epistle to the
Hebrews, xi. 38). But the Carthusian monks and
our insurrectionary rabble in their robes of hair-
cloth and their gray coats, at these we are to look
with amazement, and say: O, what holy people are
these! How hard it is for them to go about so
shabbily clothed; and yet they are always guzzling
and swilling their belly full.

See, that I call the real fasting of Christians, if
one mortifies the whole body and forces it, with all
the five senses, to relinquish and do without every-
thing that ministers to its ease, whether this be
done willingly or by compulsion, (yet that one

28o LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

gladly assents to this and endnres it), whether one
eats fish or flesh; bnt nothing more than sheer need
reqnires, so that the body is not thereby injnred or
incapacitated, but held under constraint and at
work, so that it does not become idle, or lazy and
lewd. But such fasting as this I do not presume to
require, nor will I impose it upon any one. For
every one must here look to himself, and judge his
own feelings, for we are not all alike, so that one
cannot set up a general rule; but every one, in pro-
portion as he is strong, and feels what his own
flesh requires, must in such proportion afiiict or re-
lieve it. For the intention here is to antagonize
lust and the excitement of the flesh, and not nature
itself, and it is not limited by any rule or measure
of time or place; but it is to be steadih' applied, if
necessary, so that we hold the body in check, and
habituate it to endure discomfort, if it become
necessary to do it; and it is to be used according to
the discretion of every one, so that no one may un-
dertake to measure it off by rules, as the pope has
done; just as we cannot measure off prayers, but
let them be free, if any one's devotion suggests or
demands them; nor can we apply it to the alms-
giving, to whom, or when, or how much we are to
give, as if forced by necessity and law.

This is the extent of the general law for all Chris-
tians, and it is commended that every one live tem-
perately, soberly and discreetly, not for a day or a

SERMON ON THE MOUNT, 28l

year, but daily and continually, which the Scrip-
tures call sobrietatein^ living soberly; so that, al-
though they cannot observe all the principal fasts,
yet do this much that they are moderate m eating,
drinking, sleeping, and in all the needs of the body,
that it may minister to what is necessary and not to
what is superfluous and capricious, and not live
here as if we were only to cat and drink, to dance
and be merry. If, however, sometimes through
weakness we are guilty of some excess, that will
have to be reckoned under the head of forgiveness
of sins, as other daily failings.

But first of all see to it that you are in advance
pious and a true Christian, and are not thinking to
render a service to God through this fasting; but
serving God must be simply faith in Christ and
love to your neighbor, so that you do just what is
your duty. If this be not the case with you, then
rather let the fasting alone. For fasting is meant
only to be imposed upon the body to cut off out-
wardly its lust and the occasions for lusting; just as
faith does the same inwardly in the heart. Let
this be enoug^h said about fasting;.

Now we must look also at the words that Christ
appends to all of these things, almsgiving, praying
and fasting — that they are to be secret, then will
our Father, who seeth in secret, reward us openly.
For it is a necessary comforting assurance for
Christians who do these works uprightly, since in

282 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

the world their works are maligned and so covered
up and concealed that no ungodly person can see
them; and even if he sees them, yet with eyes open
he does not acknowledge them. Thus, take our-
selves for example, what good we do through the
grace of God, that no one sees, and the whole world
denounces us as those who pray, fast, and despise
and forbid all good works, and occasion only mis-
fortune and discord. But how we pray, both openly
and secretly, that they are not to see, even if they
hear it and are standing alongside, and would like
to attack us publicly, as we are helj)ing to keep
the peace and do good, etc. For God has so or-
dained it, as the Scriptures say, that no ungodly
person shall see the glory of God, that is, every-
thing that God says and does; as also Isaiah says,
vi. lo: Make the heart of this people fat, and make
their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see
with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and
understand with their heart, and convert, etc.

And so it is with us, both in our doctrine and
life. For I suppose our gospel is not hidden, in
itself, but so noised abroad that they all see and
hear it; else they would not so furiously rage
against it; yet they cannot see it, and it must be
called among them not the gospel, but a damnable
heresy. So also they do not see its fruits in us and
our good works that we show towards them, as our
enemies, and humble ourselves most completely

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 283

before them, offer them peace and everything that
is good, and besides faithfully pray for them: yet
they are not worthy to recognize this, but must for
this very reason so much the more horribly perse-
cute us. Thus they also do not see our fasting,
how our preachers willingly endure hunger and
trouble, that they may serve the people, etc. But
when they fast along with a good, fat collation,
and three or four courses, that is a splendid feat
and great holiness; just as our praying must be
considered as nothing in contrast with their bab-
bling and howling in the churches.

See, thus, the entire Christian life must be and
remain hidden, and cannot attain to any notoriety
nor have any show and display before the world.
Therefore be satisfied, and do not worry about it,
though it be concealed, and indeed covered up and
buried, so that no one sees or regards ifc, and be
content that your Father up there in heaven sees
it; he has sharp eyes and can see very far off, al-
though it be covered by great, dark clouds, and
buried deep in the earth; in such a way that the
life of all Christians is intended alone for the e)'es
of God. For that is at all events the outcome of it
all; we may live as we will, and do as well as we
can, yet we still cannot please the world, nor do
what seems right to it or worthy of praise, and it
does not really deserve to be helped and benefited.

Therefore we must also aeain sfive it its walking-

284 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

papers and send it home to the devil, and confi-
dently defy it with such rhymes as: "Let the world
go, it has a poor show," etc. It is enough that we
are acting to please him who sees what we do; and
we will neither do nor leave undone anything to
please them, God helping us, whether they thank
or abuse, are angry or laugh; we will not at any
rate make it otherwise than it has always been.
Why should we then strive after the honor or grati-
tude that cannot be obtained? No, we will com-
mend it to the scoundrels that wear rosaries about
their necks, are bellowing day and night in the
choir, are gormandizing on nothing but fish and
stinking oil, etc., and are doing nothing but lost
works; these shall gain the honor and glory from
the world, as they deserve them both, and they be-
long together, as cattle and a stable, with the devil
behind. • For as the works are, so shall also the
priests be, that one villain may praise another.

That is one part of the consolation, that we
know that the world is not worthy of us; but we
have another One in heaven^ who beholds us and
our works. The other part is, that he says: "Thy
Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee
openly;" that it will not only be seen, but also re-
warded; and not in secret, 'but openly, that the
whole world may see, along with its own perpetual
disgrace. Therefore let him dispose of it; he will
bring it to light, so that it is not kept in the dark,

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 285

and [he will do it] on earth and in the presence of
the people; as also the thirty-seventh Psalm com-
fortably teaches: "Commit thy way nnto the Lord;
trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass.
And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the
light, and thy judgment as the noonday." See
how the dear martyrs were so shamefully murdered,
and yet they now so shine forth that all the world
in contrast is a mere stench. So John Huss before
our day was condemned, with unheard of brutality,
and his name (as they supposed) was forever oblit-
erated; yet now he shines forth with such honor
that his cause and teaching must be praised before
the whole world, and the matter of the pope lies in
the dirt most ignominiously.

Then let us now be shoveled under and stay
hidden; the time will come when God will draw us
forth, that our cause must shine before the eyes of
all the world, even yet in this life, but still more
gloriously at that day when some poor man will
step forth with his fruits and good works, and put
to shame the whole papacy and the world, so that
his cause will be perfect light and clearness, but the
other nothing but filth; only so that we cling to
the word of Christ, and do not care or be worried
about it that we are now befouled and thrown into
the dark before the world: but look to him and do
everything for his sake. For God's work and word
cannot lag behind, but must come forth to the

286 Luther's commentary on the

light, howev^ deeply it is covered up and buried;
so that I have often myself wondered, when I
looked at the papacy, how the devil through the
pope's abominations has thrown the dear gospel
into a dung-pile and puddle, and covered it up so
completely that I thought it would not be possible
for the truth ever to come forth again amid such
perversions of masses, purgatory and numberless
other abominations: yet it had to come forth, just
when it lay the deepest, and they were thinking
that they had settled the matter for ever.

The same thing happened to Christ himself;
when they had put him under ground and supposed
they had covered him up so deeply that nobody
would ever mention him again, then he blazes
forth and shines by his word so brightly that they
all had to go under for ever. Therefore we ought
also to feel safe, for we have his word, so that our
doctrine and works must come to the light and be
praised before the eyes of all the world; although
now they are concealed; unless God himself must
stay in the dark. See, this is the comforting as-
surance, given to us as an admonition, that we are
to exercise ourselves in really good works, and not
worry ourselves because they are not observed by
the world, for it is too blind; and just as little as it
recognizes God, just so little does it recognize his
word and works; and it will never come to see how
grand a thing it is to be a baptized child, or a

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 287

Christian who receives the Lord's Supper and
gladly hears the word of God; but has to look at it
as a mere water-bath, or a bit of bread, and a use-
less talk. So also it does not see what he is doing
who rightly fasts or prays. Therefore we commend
it to him who can see it, and hope that he will put
to shame the blind, crazy saints, with their pomp-
ous, hypocritical display by which they are now
darkening the life and works of Christians.

V. 19-21 : '''■Lay not tip for yourselves treasures upon earth,
where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break
through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in hea-
ven, luhcre thieves do not break through nor steal : for where
your treasure is, there zvill your heart be also.'^

He has been thus far rebuking their false inter-
pretations of the ten commandments, and purifying
and cleansing the befouled and obscured doctrine ;
then he taught the nature of real good works in
contrast with their false, pretended good works; in
such a way that we may rightly understand the ten
commandments and do really good deeds. Now he
begins to warn against the temptations that beset
this doctrine, and continues in this strain almost
until the eighth chapter, and means to set forth the
whole matter most admirably, as a skilled master,
who omits nothing that may serve to keep us in the
true doctrine and life.

First of all he takes up the beautiful, great vice
that is called avarice. For these are about the two

288 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

worst plagues that always make their appearance,
if we preach tlie gospel and try to live accordingly;
first, false preachers, who corrupt the doctriue; then
squire avarice, who hinders right living; as we see
now, since the gospel is preached again, that the
people have become much more avaricious than
before, they rake and scrape together as if they
were almost dying from hunger; they formerly
groped in blindness, as if stupefied, listened to the
preaching of irresponsible dreamers, and gave by
the score what was demanded, so that they neither
saw nor knew what was being taken from them ;
but now, since their eyes are opened, that they
know how they ought to live and perform really
good w^orks, they watch their pennies so closely,
and are as avaricious, as if each one would like to
monopolize the treasures of the world: so that I
cannot otherwise explain it, or tell whence it
comes, except that it must be a temptation from
the very devil himself, who always interjects this
abominable vice along with the light of the gospel,
to hinder it. For the gospel gives us the consola-
tion that we not only are there to live forever, but
are also here to have enough to eat, as we read in
the eighth Psalm: that Christ is to be a King and
Ivord over all the world, and have in his hand all
sheep and oxen, and all the beasts upon earth, so
that he will not let us die of hunger. Now, this we
know; and yet we ourselves are much more deeply

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 289

immersed in avarice and care for daily food than
before, and are all the time short of fnnds and out
of pocket, and cannot give for the glory of God the
tenth part of what we used to cram down the thiont
of the devil.

Christ taught the same thing in many other
places, and announced it beforehand. As, when
he sent out his apostles to preach, his chief care
and admonition were that they should beware of
these two things, false teaching and avarice; and
he strictly charged them that they should take no
provision with them on the way, nor be concerned
about what the}^ should eat and drink, so that (as
above said) the two most injurious things in Chris-
tendom, by which it is greatly perverted, are:
spiritually, the faith by false doctrine, bodily, the
fruits by avarice. Therefore there is need here of
preaching and warning, when we have decided
upon doctrine and life, that we take due care to
adhere to it and not be diverted from it by false in-
terpretations of Scripture; and then to beware of
avarice that it do not secretly ensnare and get pos-
session of us, so that we do not aim only at tem-
poral things, to have enough here, as if that were
all.

For it is a dangerous, insinuating vice, and can

put on an attractive appearance and start beautiful

thoughts, so that it even deceives Christians, and

no one can be sure of being safe acrainst it. For

19

290 LUTHER'S COMMKNTARY ON THE

when tliey see how ill it goes with them in the
world, that is ever imposing npon them, and be-
grndging" them even a bit of bread, so that they for
its sake mnst nearly die of hunger; how the poor
preachers are now left to endure trouble and want;
they are so tempted that they consider how they
may get and accumulate something, so that they
may stay in the world, until at last they actually
become involved in worldly care and avarice, and
through this let their ministerial office fall and lie,
and some even let go the gospel altogether.

See, for this reason Christ now begins with
many words to preach against the great idol mam-
mon, and paints it in the most detestable colors, so
that one should by all means be on his guard
against it ; and he sa}'S, in the first place : Lay
not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where
moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves
break through, etc. Here he gives to the treas-
ures upon earth three burrowers, rust, moths and
thieves ; these are scandalous watchmen when
they are set over treasures. Now God has wisely
ordained that where a treasure is there must such
fellows be that watch it; just as commonly the
sparrows or rats and mice with the corn. For it is
not worth anything better, since we do not rightly
use money and propert\-, but through sheer avarice
scrape it together for ourselves, and no one gives
or orrants it to another.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 29I

But this means not only the moths and rnst that
devour clothes or iron and brass; nor mice and
rats, that can be caught in traps; also, not the
mere thieves that secretly empty the cofters, but
also the great living moths and public thieves, as
the great corrupters and profligates at court, that
can empty bins and purse for a prince, and at last
strip him of all that he has; so also in cities, not
onl}' those who creep into a citizen's house, but
who with cunning secrecy suck out the city's re-
sources by usury and extortion in the market and
wherever they can ; so that, in short, wherever
there is money and property there must also moths
and thieves be, eager for it; and everything in
the world is full of these rats and mice, wherever
people live together. For what else than such a
rust or moth is an unfaithful counsellor at court,
or an officer who does nothing- but nibble away at
a prince's money or property as long as it lasts?
As there are now many of these hypocrites, who
with daily, heavy, unnecessary and useless ex-
penses make the princes poor, and who do not care
whether a prince is prospering or going to ruin, if
they can only be masters of his money and man-
age things as they please. Thus also, in all towns
and villages we find everything full of rats and
moths, both great and small, secret and public, as
shoemakers, cobblers, tailors, butchers, bakers,
brewers and saloon-keepers, and other trades,

292 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

workmen and day-laborers. Yes, in every house,
he who has a hizy, unfaithful servant or maid,
what else has he than a weevil, that devours more
for him than if he had his floor full of rats and
mice? Now see what a fine god inammou is, who
has no better protectors and courtiers about him
than mere moths and rust, so that if one has been
gathering 'treasures for a long while, yet there must
be so much devouring by this kind of hangers-on
that no one who ought to enjoy it is glad or takes
pleasure in it ; and not many treasures of great
men and princes have ever been well invested, but
they have generally been wasted through wars, or
devoured by these miserable cankers, or other-
wise uselessly squandered or destroyed. Therefore,
those are best off who have not many treasures,
for they have not many rats to feed, and need not
be afraid of thieves.

How, then, are we to have no treasures at all,
and are all hereby condemned who gather treasures
upon earth ? Surely that cannot be the case. For,
if everybody would do as you and I do, to-morrow
nobody would have anything in house and home.
The lords and princes must acquire and have pro-
vision for land and people. For to this end God
has created gold and silver and given them mines.
Thus we read in the Scriptures that Moses taught
the king that he should not have too many horses,
too much gold and silver, etc. Thereby he ad-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 293

mils that he may gather treasures moderately ; as
also King Solomon himself boasts [that he has
gathered treasures], and the patriarch Joseph gath-
ered so much that he made all Egypt the king's
own, with its corn, money, property, cattle, and
the very bodies of the people besides, as complete
vassals ; thus Abraham, too, had many sheep and
much gold and silver with which he traded. What
shall we say to it then, that he here so clearly for-
bids us to gather treasures? since he himself (if we
wanted to reckon with him) had a fund, because
Judas held the bag, and yet there was always a
balance on hand, so that they never wanted for
anything when he sent forth the disciples, as they
themselves said. Why, then, does he here forbid
this, and say that they shall take no money, nor
scrip, nor shoes with them ?

Answer: It has been said above, often enough,
that Christ in this sermon teaches a single person
or a Christian man ; and that a man of the world
and a Christian are to be kept quite distinct. For
a Christian does not mean a male or female, young
or old person, lord, servant, emperor, prince,
farmer, citizen, nor anything that is part of the
world and may be known by a worldly designation;
he has no person or mask, and should neither
have nor know anything in the world, but be satis-
fied with his treasure in heaven. He who does not
properly make this distinction cannot rightly un-

«94 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

derstaiid these sayings; as our sophists and fanatics,
who mix and confound these things together.

A prince may very well be a Christian, but as a
Christian he is not to rule; and in so far as he rules
he is called not a Christian, but a prince. The
person is a Christian, but the office or princeship
has nothing to do with his Christianity. For, so
far as he is a Christian, the gospel teaches him that
he is to injure no one, not to punish or take re-
venge, but to forgive everybody, and to endure
whatever injury or injustice is done to him. That
is (I say) the lesson of a Christian. But that would
not constitute a good government, if you would
preach in that way to the prince; but he must
speak thus: My Christianity is something between
God and myself, that has its own rules, how I am
to live with reference to him; but besides this I
have in the world another office or rank, that I am
a prince. This person does not stand related to
God, but the relation is between me and my land
and people, etc. In this respect the question is
not how you are to live towards God, and what you
are to do and suffer for yourself; let that be for
your persQU as a Christian, that has nothing to do
with land and people. But your princely person
must do none of these things or have anything to
do with them; but think how it may manage the
government, keep and protect justice and peace,
punish the wicked.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 295

See, in this way both ranks or offices are rightly
divided, and yet in one person, and so to speak
are contradictory, so that one person shall at
the same time suffer everything, and not suffer ;
but in such a way that to each office its own ap-
propriate experience is applied: namely, as said
above: If it affects me as a Christian, then I am to
endure it; but if it affects me as a secular person,
which is not between God and me, but bound to
land and people, (whom I am commanded to help
and protect, and the sword is placed in my hand
for this purpose,) then it is not suffering that is
called for, but the opposite. So every nian upon
earth has two persons: one for himself, bound to
no one, but to God alone; aside from that, a secu-
lar one, with which he is bound to others; as we
must be mixed together in this life, as a husband
or householder with wife and child; who, although
he is a Christian, must nevertheless not suffer it
from those related to him that they practice knav-
ery or reckless behavior in the house, but he must
resist and punish wrong-doing, so that they must
conduct themselves properly, etc. If you rightly
apprehend this difference, then it is easy to under-
stand the teaching of Christ. For he is speaking
here, and in all his sermons, not about how a sec-
ular person is to do and live; but how you are to
live uprightly towards God as a Christian, who has
not to concern himself about the world, but only
about the life to come.

296 luthp:r's commentary on the

Thus I say also in regard to this text : My per-
son, that is called a Christian, is not to care for or
lay up money ; but I am to be heartily devoted to
God only. Bnt externally I may and am to use
temporal good for my body, and, as to other people,
so far as relates to my secular person, I may gather
money and treasures ; yet not too much, so that I
do not make an avaricious belly out of myself,
that cares only for itself, and can never be filled.
For a secular person must have money, corn and
provision for his land, people, or others that belong
to him. Thus, if one could rule in such a way as
the patriarch Joseph in Egypt, so that all the
storehouses and vessels should be full of food, and
could manage the country in such a way that all its
need would be provided for, from which provision
one could help the people, advance to them and
distribute among them, if necessary ; that would
be an excellent treasure and an admirable and
Christian use of worldly goods. For what a prince
gathers, he gathers not for himself, but as a person
belonging to all, yes, as a common father of the
whole land. For we must not all be beggars, but
every one provide so much for himself, that he can
maintain himself and not impose upon others, and,
besides, he should help others, and thus one should
contribute to others when it is necessary.

Thus every city should lay up as much as it can
for the common need; yes, every parish should

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 297

have a common treasury for the poor. That
would not be unfair, but should be called laying
up Christian treasures. For it is not such a treas-
ure as ministers to avarice and lust ; as the world
does, and as our priests hitherto have gathered
money, and with no other purpose than to find
their pleasure with it, and to play with the florins
like the little girls with their dolls. But when
necessity calls for it, when others are to be helped,
then there's nobody at home. These are the
devil's treasures, against which Christ is here
speaking, that we are not to lay up treasures upon
earth, that is for one's self and for his own pleasure;
in such a way that the heart does not become
avaricious, and cling to the temporal mammon, but
seek for and lay up another treasure in heaven.
But outwardly and secularly you may lay up as
much as you can with God and honorably ; not for
your own satisfaction and avariciousness, but for
the need of other people. He who thus accumu-
lates shall have blessing and indulgence besides,
as a pious Christian.

But those who are thus avariciously scraping to-
gether, so that they cannot cease, and yet do not
let any one enjoy it, so that they dare not them-
selves make a cheerful use of it, with them it shall
happen, as is here said, that moth and rust and
thieves shall consume, so that as it came so shall it
go; although it also often happens, on the other

298 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

hand, that eveu where things have been properly
gathered, they are nevertheless consumed in this
way. For no better treatment can be expected on
earth for temporal good at any rate. If this now
happens to^those who lay up treasures rightly, how
much rather to those who seek nothing else than
the money, not the use, advantage and fruit of the
money. For it is here so denounced that moth and
rust must attack it and consume it, and it be stolen,
so that no one can succeed who thus avariciously
rakes and scrapes together; and although a farmer
has gathered a great deal, he still must not use it,
that does not become him, but he must bury it, so
that it does not benefit him or any one else, other-
wise the worms gnaw and bite at it, or it falls to
the share of the public servants or scoundrels at
court, so that it may not be better spent.

Thus now Christ is trying with these words to
reason us out of the idea of thus avariciously grasp-
ing after mammon, and he speaks about it so con-
temptuousl-y that he could not make it more odious
to us. For what sort of a god is that, who cannot
do so much as to defend himself against moth and
rust, but must let himself be daily gnawed at and
consumed, and lie there to be plundered by every-
body, so that everything that comes along feasts
upon him, and every thief steals him, etc. That is
vexatious, to have such a helpless god, subject to
moth, rust and thieves, who yet rules the whole

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 299

world. Therefore we ought to be ashamed of our-
selves, that we are such people as to be cliuging to
such a moth-eateu treasure aud placing all our con-
fidence upon it. Since }ou know this, (he means
to say), do not set your heart upon it, so that you
lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth; but be
satisfied with what God here gives you, and hold it
liable to be lost or taken from you. For that is all
that can be expected; especially if you wish to be a
Christian, and confess or preach your Lord, you
must be always expecting to be snapped at and cast
out, as one that has challenged the world and all
the devils. If you are to be really consistent, you
must be courageous enough to despise all their
treasures and goods, and be assured of another, bet-
ter treasure.

Therefore he says : Lay up for yourselves treas-
ures in heaven, that is, let the world have its
moth-eaten treasures, liable to be robbed and
stolen, that are of no more value than that the
world may take pleasure and comfort in them.
But you that are not of the world, but belong to
heaven, and are purchased for heaven by my blood,
so that you may have another eternal treasure that
is prepared and appointed for you, do not let your
heart here be entrapped: but, if your office and
worldly calling are such that you must have to do
with earthly treasure, do not cling to it or serve it.
But let it be your aim to gain those treasures that

300 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

are laid up for you in heaven. For those are true
treasures that neither moth nor rust can reach, and
they are altogether safe against everything that
can devour or steal. For they are so deposited
that they always remain whole and ready, and are
so guarded that no one can break through after
them.

Let him now who wants to be a Christian apply
this stimulus and this logic to himself. For it
ought to please an avaricious fellow, and make his
heart laugh, when one shows him such a treasure
that no rust can corrupt and no thief steal. But
the world is said not to regard this, because it nei-
ther sees it nor feels after it, but continues clinging
to the gold and silver that it sees glittering,
although it knows and sees that it is not secure
for an hour against rust and thieves. But we are
not preaching to these. He who will not adhere
to Christ, and shape his course with reference to
the invisible treasure, let him go his way; we will
not drag any hither by main force. But take
notice, if your time comes that yon must go hence,
then call upon your treasure that you have laid up,
and upon which you have relied for consolation,
and see what you have in it, and what it can help
you.

But it happens, as is written in the seventy-sixth
Psalm (v. 5): Dormiermit sommun simm omnes
viri divitiarum^ et nihil invenertmt in manibus

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 3OI

SHIS — the full-bellied rich that served mammon,,
when they were to die, found nothing at all. That
is indeed a terrible thing, that those who have
served mammon their whole life long, and have
done injustice and wrong unto many for its sake,
and have despised the word of God, yet in the time
of need could not have a hair-breadth of enjoyment.
Then for the first time their eyes are opened so
that they look into another world, and go groping
about for what they have gathered as a provision,
yet they find nothing, and are left to pass away
empty in disgrace ; then they become so anxious
and afraid that they in consequence forget what
they have laid up, and they find nothing also in
heaven ; and there happens to them just what
Christ says, in Luke xii. 19, about the rich man who
once had a grand good harvest, so that he meant to
pull down his barns and build greater, and thought
to have a good time, and said: "Soul, thou hast
much goods laid up for many years; take thine
ease, eat, drink and be merry." Notice, that is the
little song of the farmers, that all greedy bellies
sing; but what follows? "Thou fool, this night
thy soul shall be required of thee: and whose shall
those things be, which thou hast provided ?" So
he both loses this treasure [his soul], and must be
robbed of his gathered goods, and so disgracefully
that he knows not who shall get them.

For this is the way of the world, since one rarely

302 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

sees great treasures divinely gathered, so that they
dare not spend them as they would like to do, or
have them benefit some one, but they must be scat-
tered in such a way that no one knows what has
become of them; as I have already often observed,
especially in the case of great, rich, ignorant priests,
who have left large possessions, that, however, soon
disappeared after their death, or fell to the share of
those who gave them no thanks for them, but reck-
lessly squandered and shamefully destroyed them.
And especially if a war occurs, then the devil has
it all his own way, so that they fall into the hands
of the fire-eaters, for whom they never were in-
tended, and who besides pile upon the people for
them all sorts of misery.

Therefore, if some one has long been laying up,
and any one asks him who is to get it, he has to
say that he does not know; and it usually does not
turn out as he expected. Therefore he is a great
fool, that he risks all his comfort and well-being
upon it, and plagues himself with great care and
anxiety all his life long, and yet does not know for
whom he has gathered it; yet nobody considers
this. For man's blindness and wickedness are too
great, and the world will still be the world, and
have the bother, that it may serve the moth-eaten
treasure; and if it has long served, and has angered
God, then it must have as its reward that God at
last cannot help it, and lets it have the disappoint-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 303

ment coupled with insult and injury. That it can-
not prevent, as little as fire can be prevented from
burniug, or water from extinguishing. Therefore
let them only go their way, and l<;now that you are
taught, as a Christian, to think where you ought to
have and find yonr treasure, where it is safe for
you, and always abides, and cannot be displaced
or become another's; and meanwhile use this
world's goods and make the best of it, as a passing
possession. And if you thus gather treasures with
God and with honor, then he will also see to it that
it remains, if it ought to remain, so that it is nev-
ertheless not lost, but well used, and that much
good is done with it.

Christ now ends this with a proverb, and says:
Where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also.
That is as much as saying what we Germans say
of a greedy belly: Money is his heart; that is, if he
only has money, that is his joy and comfort, in
short, his God. Again, if he has nothing, that is
his death; there there is no heart, no joy, no com-
fort. Therefore he means to say : Beware, and test
3-our own heart, and know assuredly that your
heart will be where your treasure is; as we are else
wont to say, what is dear to a man, that is his God.
For his heart draws him' thitherward, is occupied
about it day and night; he sleeps and wakes with
it, whether it be money and property, pleasure or
honor, etc. Therefore observe your own heart,

304 lutiip:r's commentary on thk

and you will soon find what is sticking in it, and
where your treasure is. For this may readily be
felt, if you have as great a pleasure and diligence
in hearing the word of God and living accordingly,
and in securing that life, as you have in gathering
and storing away money and property.

For, if my heart be so disposed (and also proves
itself such, where it can be proved) that I would
rather lose not only money and property, but also
my neck, rather than to forsake or despise the gos-
pel, and to do wrong or violence to my neighbor
for my own benefit, I can conclude that money
and propert}' are not my heart's treasure, although
I am also gathering and saving ; but having freely
exposed them to danger and hazard, I am striving
for another treasure, in heaven, namely, that hid-
den in the word of God. x^gain, however, if it be
the case with you that you let others preach and
teach and exhort as they will, and you go along,
thinking that you have enough, and live in style ;
never ask whether you are doing right or wrong by
your neighbor, if you only have your own, and
make your calculation so that with one penny you
mav gather two, yes ten, and have no concern about
God's word and preachers, and about the world
with its laws, then you can also understand that
your treasure is not above in heaven, but remains
with the moth and rust; so completely, that you
would rather anger God and the world before you

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 305

would lose a penny, and o^ive up anything for its
sake: as now peasants, citizens, noblemen every-
where shamelessly talk and live, who for the sake
of a penny -venture to dare defy the government
of God in the Church and in the world, so that
this saying may remain true and practically con-
vict them, since they will not hear nor be in-
structed. For it cannot be otherwise, even if we
worry long about it and would gladly see it other-
wise. Therefore it is best, if we have told it to
them, that we let them go their way, and despise
and laugh at them as much as they do at us. For
God says in the second Psalm that he can laugh
too, and laugh so that they will have bitter weep-
ing ; that means that he will speak with tliem in
his wrath and will alarm them in his sore displeas-
ure.

V. 22, 23. "77^1? light of the body is the eye: if, therefore,
thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But
if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If
therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, hozv great is that
darkness!''

That is a warning, that we must not allow our-
selves to be deceived by the beautiful color and ap-
pearance with which avarice can adorn itself and
conceal the villain. For, as I have, said, there is
no vice among all the natural vices that more read-
ily deceives people and does greater harm both to
the gospel and to its fruits. For it hinders wher-
20

3o6 LUTHER'S co]m:\ientary on the

ever it can the preaching of the gospel and its being
kept among the people; and althongh the gospel
be preached, the preachers who have fallen nnder
the power of avarice are of no acconnt, so that both
are thereby injured, the people who are to hear it,
and those who ought to preach it; so that those
who indeed have it will not support the preachers,
and let them die for hunger, so far as they are con-
cerned; and as the preachers see this, they take
special pains not to live at the mercy of the people.
These are then more dangerous enemies than the
others. For, although a peasant becomes avari-
cious, and gives nothing to support the gospel, a
preacher can still be provided for; although his
support is very meagre. But when the preachers
themselves become involved in it, the gospel is no
longer to their taste, so that they should suffer or
venture anything for its sake; but they will lay
their plans accordingly, so that their belly does
not lack, and they will preach what will please the
people and bring the money.

Therefore St. Paul calls this a peculiar vice, a
worship of idols or idolatry, that is in direct oppo-
sition to the faith, which is the true worship or
honoring of God. For it makes mammon and the
impotent penny' its God and Lord; what it wills,
that he does; thus he lives and preaches, and is
completely owned and captured by it, so that he
no longer asks after the word of God and does not
hazard a penny on its account.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 307

Now Christ can do nothing more against all this
than to rebuke this vice and warn those against it
who are willing to be warned ; and this is indeed
necessary. For even the pious can hardly pre.vent
their being deceived by it. But others move along
serenely, as though completely swallowed up by
it, notwithstanding what we preach and declare.
The Jews, too, were such a set, immersed in their
avarice, so he had to be all the time rebuking
them; and all the prophets, when they were hold-
ing forth about the faith, were perpetually rebuk-
ing and denouncing avarice, against their preach-
ers and false prophets as well as against the mass
of the people. But it was of no avail, except in
•the case of a few who would be thereby influenced,
for whose sake Christ and we all must still preach,
and let the others go their way, since they will be
of the devil's party.

Now Ch-rist used this saying more than once as
a common saying, not only in reference to avarice,
but also in reference to other matters, especially as
to doctrine. For in matters of doctrine it occurs
that the factious spirits and lying preachers pre-
tend that they are heartily and truly in earnest,
and seek the honor of God and the salvation of
souls, so that no one boasts and asseverates as vig-
orously as they do. To these he utters the warn-
ing : Beware, that your eye be single and not evil ^
that is, that your way of thinking and your boast-

308 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

ing- is right, and not secretly evil, and that you
are not deceiving yourselves with false notions and
thoughts.

For it io commonly these people that the devil
bewitches, and just as when a man lies in a dream
or sleep, and is so completely stupefied that he can-
not see that he is dreaming ; but he does not think
or know anything else than that it is really hap-
pening so, and he is so sure of it that he could not
feel anything more sure; and yet it is nothing else
than a dream, which soon vanishes, and when he
awakens it is all gone; and although it seems to
him sometimes that it is a dream, or that he is
dreaming of a dream, yet he is ensnared, so that
he cannot extricate himself, or become master of
his senses. So those people are also ensnared, who
insist so confidently upon it that their cause is the
pure truth, so that they may swear everything
upon it, and yet it is all nothing but dreams and
the thoughts of crack-braine'd people. Therefore it
is a dangerous thing if one does not cling closely
and simply to God's word, and allows himself to be
led away from it to the thoughts of men that have
an excellent appearance and soon captivate, so that
he who falls within their influence cannot after-
wards extricate himself from it. For he does not
know anything else but that it is the real word of
God, and he adheres so firmly to it that lie cannot
be persuaded to abate a jot or tittle of it; as we see
that some have lost their necks for it.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 309

But this is not the place to develop this thought.
For here he applies the saying to the common vice
of avarice, which, although it is gross and ex-
ternal, yet there is no vice in reference to doc-
trine that can so adorn itself and wear so beautiful
a covering, so that it must not be called avarice,
but be seen and praised, as though one were
heartily opposed to the vice, and no one were so
mild, kind and merciful; and j^et he does not
himself see that his heart deceives him, and
that he is altogether immersed in avarice. We
must therefore examine the text a little farther,
and exhibit it plainly in illtistrations, although it
is not possible to comprehend in how many ways
the evil eye can contort and help itself; [we do
this] in order that one may learn to be on his
guard against such influences. For this is also a
common temptation among Christians, so that no
one believes that so few people are free from it; for
the heathen and others are guilty of it in its gross-
est forms, so that one can easily recognize it.

Christ's now saying: "The eye is the light of the
body," is a reference to the natural body. If it had
no eye, no sun would be of any use, although it
might shine a hundred times so brightly. There-
fore the body has no other light that may lead and
direct it, than the eye ; because one can see with
it, we need not be afraid that he will drive along-
side of the bridge into the Elbe, or go through

3IO Luther's commentary on the

hedges and bushes, or rush into the fire or among
the spears; for the light guards him against danger
and harm. But he who has no eye must go for-
ward, and stumbles over wood and stones until he
falls and breaks his neck or is drowned in the
water; for there is no light there, but total dark-
ness.

So (he means to say) it is in the matter of Chris-
tianity, especially with avarice. Here take care
that your spiritual body has an eye, that is, an up-
right, good intention and understanding, that you
may know how you believe and live, and do not
deceive yourself with false notions aud darkness.
Thus, for example, if you thus reason: "I will work
and do something, that I may gain somethiug and
maintain myself with wife and child, with God
aud honor; and if God grants that I may also there-
by serve and help my neighbor, that I will gladly
do;" see, that is the light or the spiritual eye, from
the word of God, that shows you what belongs to
your calling, and indicates to you how you are to
fill it and live in it. For this is right, and has
to be, since the body lives here, so that every one
may do something that he may support himself
and keep house.

But now beware that this eye does not become
evil and deceive you; that you do this with a sim-
ple intention, and have only this purpose, to work
and do what your calling requires to meet tlie

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 31I

necessities of yourself and your neighbor, and not
under this pretence to seek something else, namely
how you may thereby gratify you avarice. For
flesh and blood is a master in misusing this light
and employing it as a pretence. So, if it now
happens that you have procured some means of
living that you are fond of, and are only concerned
how you can keep it and increase it, and, if you
•have a gulden, would like to have ten more: see,
here the evil eye comes creeping in, that looks not
only at the means of living and the necessary pos-
session, but also at its avarice, and can still adorn
itself [with the pretence] that it is not seeking
avarice, but is doing what God has ordered it to
do, and is accepting what God gives.

Well, here no one can look into your heart and
judge you; but beware yourself that your eye is
not evil. For it happens very easily, and there is
a strong inclination to it, especially when one sees
how profitable it is; love is thirsty and is never
satiated, and nature besides is strongly disposed
that way: so whores and scoundrels come together,
and things go as they ought to, as we say: Occasio
facit furem, money makes villains. Therefore
Christ warns his own so diligently. For the world
is a great whore-house, and quite merged in this
vice: and we ourselves must live in it, and these
examples and incitements tempt us, so that we £,re
in great danger and have to be well upon our guard
that we do not let the devil ride us.

312 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

If now your eye is siiigle, (says Christ), your
whole body is light; that is, all that you are doing
and living in }our outward deportment, in accord-
ance with your office and calling, that is all upright,
moving in accordance with God's word, with the
proper intention, so that it shines like the sun, be-
fore God and man, and it stands well before all the
world; and all that you do is excellent, and you
can use worldly good with a good conscience, as
liaving been honestly and divinely acquired, etc.
Again, if your eye is evil, so that you do not act in
these things as required by God and your office, but
leave the track and are concerned only to gratify
your lust and love for money; then your whole
body is dark, and everything that you do is con-
demned by God and lost, although you are called a
pious man before the world. For the body lets
itself be led with its whole external movement and
life as a blind person, and cannot go or live other-
wise than as the eye directs.

Thus he means to warn us and charge every one
conscientiously to see to it how his mind and heart
are disposed, so that he do not flatter himself with
the beautiful and 3'et false idea that he has a good,
honest reason, and a real good right to rake and
scrape together in this way, and impose upon God,
so that he does not observe the scoundrel; as
though he said: You may adorn yourself as you
will; but if you deceive God, then you have de-

SKRMON ON THE MOUNT. 313

ceived a wise, shrewd, and besides an experienced
man. But take care that you are not deceiving
yourself, and that your light does not become an
evil eye that makes your whole life dark and abom-
inable in the sight of God; for he has a clear, sharp
sight, and will not allow himself to be deceived by
your extra coat of paint. And he concludes this
warning with a threat, to alarm, so that we may
not so readily make use of that plausible, invented
notion, and says: But if the light that is in thee be
darkness, how great is that darkness ! That is, al-
though you ma}' invent such plausible ideas, as that
you do not mean to accumulate through avarice, as
the others, but. intend to do it in such a way .that
}-ou can defend it before God and the world, so that
it must not be called avarice, and yet you live just
the same, and make thus for yourself a light of
your own in your heart; but see to it just here that
this light is not also darkness, not alone that it is
sheer avarice in your heart, but also that you mean
to conceal it as with the light, so that it is not to
be called avarice, and thus there is a double dark-
ness, much greater than before.

Just as that was a great darkness under the
papacy that completely extinguished the light of
Christian doctrine, so that they taught nothing
else than to take away sin and be saved by works,
etc. But when they besides at once defended this
and boasted of it that it was the true divine doc-

314 luthhr's commentary on the

trine, and that he who denied this was a heretic,
and was forbidding the worship of God and all
good works, etc., then there was the blackness of
darkness, so that lliey adorned this darkness and
error with the name of truth, and thus made the
darkness greater by the superadded light; just as
if one knows the devil, that it is the devil, and
makes a god of him. That means to cover dark-
ness with darkness and yet claim that it is bright
and luminous, yes, the very sun itself.

Thus Christ now concludes : If the opinion and
doctrine that one regards as light is itself darkness,
how great must the other darkness be which this
brino;s with it; namely, that one practices this
doctrine, and lives accordingly. Thus here, he
whom avarice has mastered, so that he rakes and
scrapes, he has already a darkness in his heart.
But if he goes on, and flatters himself that it is not
to be called avarice, and silences his conscience,
so as not to be rebuked, that is now a real, thick,
double darkness. Just as a fool, who claims to be
sensible and not chargeable with folly, is properly
called a great, big fool; or an ugly strumpet, who
claims to be pretty and adorns herself with her
nasty trumpery; that is only making things blacker
and worse; and in fact all men are so disposed,
that no one wants to have his sin rebuked; but all
try to cover their tracks, so as to get approbation
and praise, and thus out of one bad sin they make
two.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 315

Now when this happens in spiritual aflfairs, then
the great murderous harm is done. For those in
this calling cannot easily do things moderately,
but, when it comes to dealing with the gospel,
they are apt to overdo it with their charities.
Again, if they apostatize from the gospel, then
there is no end to their avarice; as it used to be »
hitherto: when they began to give, it fairly snowed
with gifts, to churches, public worship and eccle-
siastical establishments; as in old times the empe-
rors and princes with good intentions gave whole
districts of country for such purposes, and endowed
such institutions; but now again hardly anybody
gives a penny, and they are avariciously gobbling
up everything, as if they were afraid of dying with
hunger.

This is the way the monks, priests and prebend-
aries used to do, whom no one could satisfy with
gifts. If one had gathered two, three or four fiefs,
he would want to have as many more; and yet
they all wore the same mask: Though I would
have enough with one prebend, parish or bishop-
rick, yet something more is needed that I may
honorably fill my station as a prince, nobleman, or
some other prelate. Then he makes use of all
possible means to rake and scrape together all that
he can get, and all for the purpose of honorably
filling his place; and yet the light is kindled [it is
now pretended] that he must not be said to be act-

3l6 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

ing avariciously, but doing it all for the mainte-
iience of his rank. So easily one can find a little
gloss with which to kindle a light for the devil;
and if one has no other resort, it will have to be
this, that one says: "I will gather my money to-
gether in such a way that I may afterwards provide
for masses and public worship, or give alms for the
maintenence of the poor," etc. That is kindling
a great, beautiful light; then a man may worry
himself to death and always say: "I mean it well ;
and the simple-minded man, our Lord God, is
capitally hoodwinked, so that he cannot see or
notice these cunning tricks, and I'll get into his
heaven before he is aware of it." But I have also
seen many who have thus hoarded, so that guldens
by the thousand lay stored up, but afterwards they
died off with their property, so that no one knew
what had become of it; for it was gained by ava-
rice, it had to be left in avarice, devoured by moth
and rust, and never be put to proper use.

This I mention as an example from which one
may see how skillfully Squire Avarice can adorn
himself and put 'on pious airs if he has occasion
for it ; and yet, in fact, he is a two-fold scoundrel
and liar. For what does God care for it, that you
mean to lead a splendid, knightly life, so that he
should be pleased for you to act avariciously, con-
trary to his" command, and live in such a way as if
you wanted to get everything for yourself, to dis-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 317

play your splendor and pride, and afterward say
that you are doing it for God's sake, and for the
honor of the Church, and mean to pay for it with
benefices and church-services. Just as if some
one were to break into your house and open your
coffers and take what he could find, and would
afterward say he meant to give some of it for
alms: ah, that would be a beautiful sacrifice!
The right thing is: If you want to give to God,
give him of what is your own ; for he says : I hate
sacrifices that come from robbery. If you have,
give what you choose; if you have not, then you
are excused. But if you are avariciously scraping
together so that you may be able to give, and pre-
tend that you are doing it with that intention,
then you are not in earnest, but it is a light that
you have yourself taken from the dark lantern
wherewith to deceive God and the people.

Thus I might go through all ranks and condi-
tions, and show how men dress themselves up so
that avarice takes on the name of a virtue, and
mammon is praised and honored as a god. But
who is to tell all that the farmers at market, the
citizens in towns, the nobleman in office and on
his estate, are everywhere doing? The one exam-
ple that I have giv'en is enough to show clearly
and distinctively the darkness that is thick enough
to be felt, and also to judge the others accordingly.
What are we to think now of the great mass of

3l8 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

the nobility that are now undertaking to deal in
nearly all kinds of business, even with iron and
nails? We must not call this all avarice; but, as
God has given it, every one may seek his means
of living as best he can, so that he may honorably
fill his station, etc. That is also a little light that
makes them stock-blind, so that it prevents them
from seeing anything at all; whilst yet in ordinary
worldly justice it is so ordered that every one may
carry on his business and trade so that still his
neighbor may also have a chance to get along and
maintain himself. But now nobody can do any-
thing for these griffins and lions that monopolize
all kinds of business, and besides want to be called
pious and honorable people.

But (as was said) who can imagine what a mul-
titude of such tricks are nowemplo\-ed in all ranks
and trades? For w^hat is the world, but a great
wide sea of all wickedness and scoundrelism, con-
cealed under a covering and color of good that can-
not be understood? Especially now in this last
age, which is a sign that it cannot long endure,
and is going to destruction. For the tendency is,
as we say: the older, the stingier; th^ longer, the
worse; and everybody is becoming so avaricious,
that almost nobody can get to eat and drink on ac-
count of others, although God gives everything in
abundance. But that is the reward of the ingrati-
tude and contempt that is shown towards the gos-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 319

pel, as I have said: He who apostatizes from the
gospel must be so possessed by the devil that he
cannot be avaricious enough: just as, on the other
hand, he who has the gospel in his heart becomes
mild, so that he not only ceases to rake and scrape
together, but gives and risks everything, as much
as he ought to and can,

Well, we must still let the world be the world,
and although it for a long while avariciously gath-
ers everything for itself, it must nevertheless go
back upon itself 'and leave everything for us; or, if
we still must suffer poverty and trouble in the
midst of it, we still have no evil portion, as Isaac
and Jacob among their brethren. Through us they
have gained worldly property and complete freedom
from the oppression and burdens of the papacy, so
that' they may do what they please. That is the
portion of Ishmael, a flask with water, that Abra-
ham hung about his neck, and let him go. But
we have a different portion, that is called spiritual
good and heavenly blessing: and are thus well pro-
vided for. Their great possessions that they have
we gladly renounce, and would not have them if
they would throw them after us; on the other hand,
they do not want the spiritual blessings that we
have. So we will hold possession of the real terri-
tory, and the inheritance that is ours forever, and
we will let them boast of their portion that will
soon fade away, and rob themselves for its sake of

320 Luther's commentary on the

our inheritance, which we would still be glad to
share with them. If they, however, rob us of their
portion, we have always so much that we can
readily recover from the loss.

But let us beware of this, that we do not fall into
the false light, along with the world, that is the
evil eye, that extinguishes the true light and makes
of it a twofold darkness; and see to it that avarice
does not perplex you with tliat sweet notion and
beautiful coloring, that you mean to bring yourself
or your children into a high, honorable position,
and gi\'e them a great deal only to better and exalt
their position; for thus avarice is the longer the less
satisfied, but is alwavs reachins^ out for somethin":
higher and beyond, and nobody is satisfied with his
place; but, he who is a citizen would like to be a
knight; a nobleman would like to be a prince, and
so forth; a prince would like to travel like the em-
peror. But do you wish to travel like a Christian?
then beware of this notion as of the very worst
darkness, and conduct your business in such a way,
if God, through his blessing, gives you success,
that your neighbor also alongside of you may pro-
vide for himself and have pleasure in you, so that
you may lend him a helping hand. For if you let
the evil eye deceive you, then you have already
lost the word of God, as driven out by that light,
and one thick darkness is added to the other, that
makes you totally blind and obdurate, so that noth-
ing more can be done for you.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 32 1

V. 24. N'o man can serve tzvo masters ; for either he zvill hate
the one and love the other ; or else he will hold to the one and
despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Here he pronounces a most fearful sentence
aoainst tlie avaricious: first of all ao^ainst his
Jews, who were the real avaricious bellies, and yet
wanted to be holy and very devout, like our priests
and ecclesiastics, he means to say: "You think
you are all right, and are serving God with great
earnestness, and are yet, along with that, avaricious
scoundrels, so that^you are doing all this for mam-
mon's sake, although you are also serving God."
But this is the statement: No man can serve two
masters at the same time. If you wish to be theT
servants of God, then you cannot serve mamnion.
Here he means two masters who are opposed to
one another, not those who reign with one another, i
For that is not self-contradictory, if I serve my
prince or the emperor and God besides; for it ,
passes regularly from one to the other, so that if I
obey the lowest one I am obe}ing the highest also. J
Just as the head -of a family sends his wife or chil-
dren to the servants, and through them commands
these what they are to do: there is no multiplicity,
but it is all one lord and from one master. But
God and the devil, that means two masters, that
are opposed to one another and issue contradictory i
orders. God says: Thou shalt not be avaricious, :
uor have any other God; but the devil, on thecon-

2T

322 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY OX THE

trary, says: You may be avaricious and serve niam-
inon.

Reason itself teaches this, that it is not sufferable
to serve two antagonistic masters at the same time;
although the world can skillfully do it, and this is
called in German, carrying the tree on both shoul-
ders, and blowing hot and cold from the same
mouth; as when a nobleman serves a prince, and
accepts hire from him, and betrays and sells him to
another and accepts money also there, and watches
what the weather promises to be, if it will rain
here, so that the sun may shine there, and thus be-
trays and makes merchandise of both. But there
is no serving in all this, and even reason must say
that such people are traitors and scoundrels. For
how would you like it if you should have a servant
who would accept wages from you and would be
looking with one eye towards some one else, and
not be at all concerned about your affairs; but, if
something should go wrong to-day or to-morrow,
would scamper off to the other and leave you in the
lurch?

Therefore it is right to say: He who is a good
servant and wants to serve faitlifully, must not
cling to two masters, but speak thus: " I have my
support from this master, him will I serve as long
as I am with him, will do the best I can for him
and not concern myself about any one else. ' ' But if
he wants to pilfer here, and steal there, then he's

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 323

ready for the hangman. For one should kill the
hens that eat at home and lay their eggs elsewhere.
Thus did the Jews also; they supposed that God
should regard them as great saints, and be well sat-
isfied if they sacrificed in the temple and slaugh-
tered their calves and cows, although they mean-
wdiile were acting avariciously wherever they could,
until they carried on their merchandizing before
and in the temple, and set up their money-chang-
ing tables, so that materials could be promptly
furnished and no one should, leave without sacri-
ficing.

Against these Christ now pronounces this sen-
tence, so that no one may undertake to be the ser-
vant of God and mammon. It is not possible to
maintain his service, which he has established, if
you are determined to be avaricious after mammon^
For the worship of God means that you cleave to
his word alone and make everything bend to that.
He who will live according to that, and be consist- j
ent, must at once renounce mammon. For this is
sure: as soon as a preacher or pastor becomes
avaricious he is no longer of any use, and cannot
preach any thing good. For he must be on his
guard and dare not rebuke any one, allows himself
to have his mouth stopped by presents, so that he
may let the people do what they please, avoids
making any one angry, especially the great and
powerful: and thus neglects his duty and office that

324 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

requires him to rebuke the wicked. Thus also, if
a burgomaster or judge or auy one who liolds an
office is to execute his office and see to it that it
is rightly :ulministered, he must not be much
concerned about how rich he may become and
derive benefit from it. Is he, however, a servant
of mammon, he allows himself to be bribed
with presents, so that he becomes blind and no
longer sees how the people live. For he thinks:
Am I to punish this one or that one? then I will
make enemies and may thereby lose what is mine,
etc. And although he has an excellent service,
and is occupying the office that God has ordered
and given to him, he still cannot administer and
exercise it; this is the work of mammon, that has
taken possession of his heart.

So it goes now in the world everywhere, so that
it supposes it to be a small matter and no great
danger with regard to mammon ; and it flatters it-
self with the beautiful, sweet thought, that it can
still serve God; but this is a miserable deception
by which the devil blinds a person, so that he no
longer attends to his official duty, and becomes ab-
sorbed in avarice; and this solely for the reason
that he fears that he will not receive honor, gifts,
or presents.

Therefore Christ (as above said) pronounces a
strict sentence that one should not deceive himself
with such thouofhts and count this a small matter:

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 325

but should know that he who for the sake of mam-
mon, money or pleasure, or honor or favor, does
not administer his office as he should, will not be
recognized by God as his servant, but as his enemy,
as we will hear; but he who wishes to be found in
God's service, and to execute his office properly,
so that he may think, with a manly heart, that he
can despise the world with its mammon; but this
not as an outgrowth of his own evil heart, but as a
gift from heaven, with prayer that God, who has
bestowed upon you this office, may also give you
grace to administer it; and enable you to believe
that you have and can do nothing nobler and better
on earth than the service that you are to render to
him, and not be much concerned as to whether you
suffer harm through it or get into trouble; and
comfort yourself with this, that you are serving a
great Master who can easily make you enjoy your
loss, which is better than that you should lose the
eternal treasure for the sake of the small temporal
good that at any rate cannot help you. For if you
are to choose a master, would you not much rather
serve the living God than the powerless dead
knave ?

See, thus every Christian does who has God's
word, that he may so honor and observe it, and
not care whether the world is thereby vexed or
fails to get any advantage from it; but he thinks
thus: There is purse and pocket, house and home,

326 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

etc.; hut /ie re is my Christ: if I am now to leave
and give up one, then I will let all that go, so that
I may keep my Christ. That is what Christ means
when he sajs one cannot serve two masters. For
it will happen sooner or later that they will con-
flict, and one must yield to the other. Therefore
there is no use for you to flatter yourself that you
mean to keep them both as masters; but you must
soon decide to leave one or the other.

Therefore the stress lies here on the little word,
serve. To have money and property, wife, child,
house and home, this is not sinful; but you must
not let this be your master, but you must make it
serve you, and you be its master; as we say of an
honest, excellent, well-disposed man: He is mas-
ter of his money; not so subservient to it and held
captive by it as a stingy greedy-belly, who would
rather let God's word go, and everything else,
holding back both hand and mouth, than to run
any risk with his money. That is a womanly,
childish and servile heart, that despises and ne-
glects the eternal treasure for the sake of the scaly
mammon which it cannot use or enjoy; yet lives
along securely meanwhile, thinks it can attend to
God's word at any time, keeps on accumulating as
much as it can, so as not to miss a penny for God's
sake, until it sinks more and more deeply into ava-
rice, gets farther and farther from God's word, and
finally opposes it altogether.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 327

For Christ used hard language and spoke very
plainly when he said: "Either he will hate the
one and love the other; or he will hold to the one
and despise the other." That is as much as to say:
The shameful love of mammon makes enemies to
God; as some of our priests publicly say: That
would indeed be an excellent way of teaching, but
it does harm; therefore it is objected to, and not un-
reasonably (as they think), for it does give occasion
to trouble. But mammon is a capital god; he does
no harm in the kitchen or in the purse. Therefore
here love and friendship come to an issue over the
words: "he will hate the one and love the other."
For there are two masters, that are opposed to each
other, and cannot peaceabl}'' dwell together in one
heart, as little as two owners in one house; so that
when the test comes that one must serve and hold
to the one, then one must aliger the other or leave
him. Thus one becomes the enemy of God, as a
matter of course, because he loves money and
property.

This is the precious fruit of the service of mam-
mon; as can especially now be seen, since avarice
has gained such complete control, that there is a
perfect leprosy of avarice among the nobility,
peasants, civilians, priests and laymen. Is not
that a great piece of sanctity and a beautiful virtue,
that one takes the best part of man from God and
gives it to mammon? For that is certainly the

328 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

highest service, to which the heart is sincerely de-
voted, which the whole body and all the members
hanker after; as Christ said above: "Where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also." For
what one loves, that he will assuredly run after,
that he will be glad to talk about, that has all his
heart and his thoughts; hence also Augustine
says: ^^ Dens mens ^ amor vieus^'''' what I love, that
is my god. From this you see what kind of peo-
ple those are to whom Christ applies this title — that
they are the enemies of God, who yet feign such
great display of serving him, as his best friends;
but at heart they are nothing else than real devil's
saints, who heartily hate and persecute God and
his word and work.

For that is truly to hate God, if one hates his
word. This is the way of it: If one rebukes a
man for avarice and unbelief, and holds before him
the first commandment: "Thou shalt have no other
gods before me," that is, thou shalt not incline
thy heart, desire and love, to any one else than to
me; and he will not hear or endure that rebuke;
but begins to rebel and rage against it, until he is
quite embittered against it in heart, with rankling
hatred against the word and its preachers. There-
fore there is in the text of the ten commandments
such a word of threatening: "I am a jealous God,
visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children
of them that hate me,'^ etc., by whom he means

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 329

these very greedy-bellies and mammon-servers,
as the Scriptures call avarice idolatry or the wor-
ship of idols. Yet they want (as above said) to be
praised as the greatest saints, and as enemies of
idolatry and heretics, and by no means to have it
said that they hate God. But this is the proof
against them that they cannot hear or see the word
of God, when it attacks their avarice, and want to
be wholly unreproved; and the more one rebukes
and threatens them, the more they laugh and mock,
and do what they please against God and every
one else.

See now, is not this a shameful evil and an
abominable sin, that ought to alarm us and make us
heartily hostile to mammon, ask God's protection
against it, and flee from it as from the devil ? For
who would not dread falling into it, and hearing
this decision concerning himself that he is to be
called an enemy of God, who not only depises him,
but wishes that God and his word did not exist,
that he might only have his free pleasure and will,
to God's annoyance and vexation. For reckon
yourself what will happen to such a man, and what
kind of a person he is loading upon himself, so
that at last it will be quite too heavy for him.

And they are indeed very well punished (as the
text says), by the fact that they are such miserable
people, that their heart, desire, love and pleasure
are set upon the out-house, when they ought to be

330 Luther's commentary on the

ill heaven and set upon that which is God's. How
could a man more completely disgrace himself
than by turning his consolation away from God,
who gives him everything that is good, and well
deserves to have our good will, and posting himself
behind the devil and taking delight in his stench
and hell, and even becoming so hellishly wicked
that he not only despises the word of God, but be-
comes so murderously opposed to it that he wishes
there were no God? That is the gratitude that he
receives from these greedy-bellies, to whom he daily
gives bodily life, sun and moon, and the treasures
that they have. But they will jfind out what they
gain thereby, and they have it in part already, so
that they must be constantly devouring the devil's
stench and filth.

That is one part of the text, spoken of mammon:
"Either he will hate the one and love the other ; "
the other is: "or, he will hold to the one (that is,
God) and despise the other." Here he does not
merely say: " He will love the one;" but he shows
the deed and work of love by the word: "hold to."
For he who is to love God and his word, will not
find it so very small a matter, but often very hard
to do, and the love will become such as the devil
will often make sour and bitter. Therefore it is
necessary that we be able to hold and hang fast to
God's word, and do not let ourselves be torn loose
from it, although our own flesh and the example

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 33 1

of the whole world, and the devil besides, oppose
it and endeavor to take it from us; and he must
needs be a man and have knightly courage that
can resist so many enemies; yes, there must be a
great fiery zeal of love, that is burning so brightly
that one can give up everything, house and home,
wife and child, honor and property, body and life,
yes, despise it too, and trample it under foot, so
that he only may preserve the treasure, which he
still does not see, and which is despised in the
world, but only offered in the mere word and.
believed on in the heart.

Yet he does not mean thereby that we are not to
have money and property, or, if we have it, to
throw it awa}'; as some fools among the philoso-
phers, and cranky saints among Christians have
taught and done. For he grants that you may be
rich, but he does not want you to fix your love
upon that; as David taught and proved by his own
example: "If riches increase, set not your heart
upon them." Ps. Ixii. lo. That is such a state of
mind that, in the midst of money and property
given by God, can keep the heart free (which the
world cannot do), and if it seeks to entice the heart
to itself (as the beautiful florins and shining silver
goblets and jewels bewitchingly smile), and to bear,
it away from God, then he can trample it under
foot, and so completely despise it as the world
clings to it, and on the contrary despises the heav-

r

332 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

enly treasure. In short, a man must be mammon's
master, so that it must lie at his feet; but he must
be subject to no one, nor have any one as his mas-
ter except the word of God. But this is preached
to the little flock that believe in Christ, and hold
his word to be true; with the others it amounts to
nothing.

V. 25. Therefore I say unto you. Take no thought for your
life, what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your
body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more thati weal, and
the body than raiment?

The Lord expatiates here in delivering a strong
denunciation of this ruinous vice, because (as said
above) it commonly pushes its way in violently
along with the gospel, and fiercely assails not only
the world but also Christians; especially, however,
those who are to preach the word of God and ex-
pose themselves to all sorts of danger on its account,
who are despised and oppressed by the world, so that
they so far as the flesh is concerned have good reason
for anxiety. For he who wishes to be a Christian
and confess his Lord, he makes the devil (who is a
prince of the world) his enemy. Therefore he as-
sails and seizes him, not through the word and
faith, but through that which is under his king-
dom and power. Now we have our worthless body,
flesh and blood, still in his kingdom; that he can
indeed torment, and cast into prison, rob of food,

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 333

and drink, and clothes, so that we, with all we
have, must always be in this danger. Flesh and
blood, on the other hand, thinks how it can also
manage to hold its place securely and escape dan-
ger. Thus the temptation arises that is called care
for a livelihood; though the world does not con-
sider it a temptation, but rather considers it a vir-
tue, and it praises these people that can scheme
for great property and honor, etc.

And here you learn what it means to serve mam- :
mon, namely, to care for life and our body, what
we are to eat and drink, to have about us and to
put on; that is, to think only of this life, how we
may become rich here, may gather and heap up
money and property, as if we were to remain here
forever. For this is not sin, nor serving mammon,
that we eat and drink, and clothe ourselves, as the
needs of this life and of the body require, so that it
may have its food and clothing; also, it is no sin to
seek and gain food; but [it is sinful] to be careful
about it, that is, to set the heart's comfort and con-
fidence upon it. For care does not inhere in the
garment or in the food, but right in the heart; that
cannot let it go, it will hanker after it; as we say:
Goods give courage, etc., so that caring means
hankering after it with the heart. For what the
heart does not intend and love, that I am not con-
cerned about; and again, what I care for, that I
must have a heart for.

334 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

Yet you iimst not press the text too close!}', as
though it meaut to forbid caring for anything at
all. For every office or calling carries with it the
duty of caring for that which belongs to it, espe-
cially where one is placed over others; as St. Paul
says, Rom. xii. 8, concerning spiritual offices in
Christendom: He that ruleth, let him do it with
diligence. Thus the head of a family must care
for his children and domestics, that they be well
trained and do what they should; and if he neglects
this he does wrong. In the same way it is the care
of a preacher or a pastor that the preaching and the
sacraments are rightly attended to; that he comfort
the distressed and sick, rebuke the wicked, pray for
all kind of needy ones, etc. For he is commanded
to wait upon and direct souls. Thus a prince and
other persons in authority must care for the secular
government, that it is riglith- administered, as tlieir
office requires. In like manner also subjects are to
care that they faithfully render and accomplish
their obedience; servants and maids, that they
properly serve their masters and guard their in-
terests, etc.

Christ is not here speaking of this kind of care;
for there is an official care that is to be carefully
distinguished from avarice. For that is not con-
cerned about itself, but about its neighbor; it does
not seek its own, yes, it even neglects its own, and
is indifferent about it, and serves another, so that

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 335

it is called a care of love, which is godlike and
Christian, not that of selfishness or of mammon,
which is both against faith and love, and it is the
very thing that hinders the official care. For he
who is in love with his money and caring for his
own advantage will not pay much attention to his
neighbor or his office, which involves his neighbor.
As we saw heretofore in our ecclesiastics, who
were not at all concerned about properly caring for
souls, but their whole aim was that the world should
contribute enough to them; and what did not bring
them in any money, that they neglected, so that
not one of them would as much as say a Pater
nosier for another without pay. But a pious pastor
cares only for this, that he may rightly administer
his office, that souls may be benefitted thereby; is
not concerned about it, that he does not gain much
by it, yes, has to suffer much for it, bite himself
with snakes, have the world and the devil as his ene-
mies, lets God see to it that he gets enough to eat,
etc. ; but consoles himself with another treasure
(for the sake of which he does all this,) in that life,
which is so great that all that he here suffers is
quite too small in comparison, etc.

Because now he has forbidden this care of avarice
and mammon worship as idolatrous and making
men enemies to God, he continues, by adding many
illustrations and comparisons, so that he may make
avarice all the more odious to us, and endeavors to

336 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY OX THE

depict it in such hateful colors that we will feel
like spitting upon it, and says, first of all: Is not life
more than food? that is, you can and must entrust
God with your life, of body and soul, and it is not
within your power to continue it for a single hour;
what fools then you are that you will not entrust
to him your body's nourishment, that he may
procure eating and drinking for you? For how
can one imagine greater folly than for one to be
painfully solicitous about getting food and drink,
and having no care about getting body and life or
retaining theni for an hour? — just as if one should
be careful to adorn his house beautifully, and did
not know who was to live in it; or, how he might
prepare much and excellent food in the kitchen,
and should have no one who was about to eat it.
Just so it is that we act with our avariciousness,
that we care for the least and never think of the
most important. That is really unnecessary and
superfluous, yes, foolish care. And though we
should care a great deal about our bodily life, there
would be nothing gained by that, for it is not
for a moment within our power; just as little as if
any one were to worry himself to death, how the
grain is to grow in the field, which he has not
sowed; or where the silver is to lie in the mine,
that he has not put there.

Since then, in the whole matter of our life we
must dismiss care, and this, without our thinking

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 337

or c'oing auxthing about it, is hourly niaintaiued
b)' God; why should we worry about little things as
if he neither could nor would give us food and cov-
ering? We ought to be ashamed that anyone should
say of us that we are guilty of such folly. Yet our
conduct, especially that of the great, rich bellies,
is nothing else than that of the fools, that are ever
caring only to have their kitchens full, and have
an abundance provided, and }et have no table or
guests; or who have many luxurious beds provided
and have no one to occupy them; just as if a shoe-
maker should do nothing else all his life but fill his
shop with shoe-lasts, and never think about where
he would get leather to make a shoe; ought we not to
march him out of the country as a crank and a fool ?
See, Christ thus shows us what foolish people
we are, so that we might well spit upon ourselves;
and nevertheless we live along in this blindness,
although it is perfectly plain, that we cannot take
care of our bodily life, and if we did care for that we
would just thereby have to become Christians and
think: See, I do not even have my own life in my
hand for a moment. Since then I must entrust
my bodily life to God, why shall I then doubt and
care how the belly may be nourished for a day or
two? Just as if I had a rich father who would
gladly present me with a thousand florins, and I
would not trust him to give me a penny when
I need it.

22

338 lutiier's commentary on the

V. 26, 27. Beholdthe fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither
do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father
feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you
by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

Here he adds an illustration and a comparison to
the exhortation in mockery, ridicule and contempt
of the wretched avarice and belly-care, so that he
may drive us away from it, and remind us what we
ourselves are, so that we may be heartily ashamed
of ourselves, since we are far nobler and better than
the birds, as we are lords not only of the birds, but
of all living creatures, and all things are given to
us for service and created for our sake: and yet we
have not so much faith as to trust that we may
sustain ourselves with all these things that God has
given and provided for us: whilst he is daily giv-
ing their food and nourishment to the smallest
birds, yes, to the very smallest worms, as our ser-
vants, .without their caring or thinking at all about
it, yet they do not gather anything or lay up in
store; they neither sow, nor if it be sowed can they
gather it in.

Is it not now a shameful disgrace, that we, for
whom God has given and provided all creatures,
and for whom he causes so much to grow every
year, so that we have enough annually to sow, and
very much more to reap, cannot trust our belly to
him without care and avarice? For if anybody
ought to care and gather, it should be done by the

• SERMON ON THK MOUNT. 339

little birds; since they cannot do that, and might
think when summer is coming : See, now all
the world is sowing its grain, so that in summer
they may again gather it in; now, or in harvest,
everybody is harvesting and accumulating, and as
all do not have a little grain to sow or to gather in,
where are we throughout the year, especially in the
cold winter, to get anything to eat, when every-
thing has been housed and nothing is left in the
fields? What would we men do if we for a single
summer had nothing to sow? Yes, if we did not
know of provision for a fortnight, how would all
the world then become desperate, as if we would
all have to die of hunger? Now the little birds
fly in the air summer and winter, sing and are
happy, never worry or care at all, though they do
not know where they are to get food to-morrow:
and we miserable, greedy bellies, never cease car-
ing, although we have barns and store-houses full,
and see grain growing in the fields so abundantly.
See, thus he makes the birds masters and teach-
ers, so that a weak little sparrow must stand in the
gospel, to our great, lasting disgrace, as teacher
and preacher of the very wisest man, and hold this
daily before our eyes and ears; as though he wished
to say to us: See, miserable man, you have house
and home, money and property, and every year
your field full of grain and growth of all kinds,
more than you need; yet you have no peace, and

340 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

are always caring lest yon may die of linnger; and
if yon do not see provision and know that it is be-
fore yon, yon cannot trnst God, that he will give
yon food foi- one day; whilst there are such multi-
tudes of us, not one of whom is all his life-time
ever anxiously concerned, and yet God daily nour-
ishes lis. In short, we have as many masters and
preachers as there are little birds in the air, that put
us to shame with their living example, so thai we
ought to be ashamed, and not venture to lift up our
eyes if we hear a bird singing, that is proclaiming
heavenward God's praise and our disgrace; yet we
are so obdurate that we pay no attention to it,
although we hear this preached and sung daily
on every hand.

Yes, see what else they do, the dear little birds;
how entirely free from care they live, and look for
their food alone from the hand of God. If we cage
them, that they shall sing, and give them plenty
to eat, so that they ought to think: Now I have
enough, so that I need not care where I will get
anything to eat; for I now have a rich master, and
my barns are full, etc. ; that they do not do, but
they would much rather be free in the air, are fatter
too, and sing better and more sweetly Laiides and
matins, early in the morning, before they eat; and
yet not one of them knows of a little grain in store;
they make a beautiful, long Benedicite^ and let our
Lord God take care, even when they have little

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 341

ones that they have to feed. Therefore, when you
hear a nightingale, you hear the cutest preacher,
who reminds you of this gospel, not with poor,
mere words, but with the living act and example,
because it sings the whole night long, and screams
itself nearly to death, and is merrier in the grove
than if it is cooped up in a cage, where we have to
attend to it with all diligence, and where it seldom
thrives or remains alive; as if it were to say: I
would much rather be in the kitchen of the Lord,
who has made heaven and earth, and is himself
cook and host, and daily feeds and nourishes in-
numerabla little birds out of his hand, and has not
just a sack full, but heaven and earth full of little
grains.

Thus Christ now speaks: Since you daily see
how your heavenly Father feeds the little birds in
the field, without their having any care; cannot
you then trust him so much that he will also feed
you, because he is your Father, and calls you his
children? Should he not much rather care for you
whom he has made his children, and to whom he
gives his word and all creatures, than for the little
birds, that are not his children, but your servants?
And yet he holds them in such high esteem that he
daily feeds them, as if he had only these to care
for; and he takes pleasure in it, that they quite
without care fly about and sing, as if they should
say: I sing and am cheerful, and yet I know not

343 i.uther's commentary on the

of a little grain that I am to eat; my bread is not
yet baked, my grain is not yet sowed; but I have
a rich master who cares for me, while I sing or
sleep; he can give me more than all men and I
could get with our caring.

Since now the birds understand the art of trust-
ing him so completely, and throwing off care from
themselves upon God, we, who are his children,
should much rather do it. Therefore it is an ex-
cellent illustration that puts us all to shame, so that
we, who are people endowed with reason, and be-
sides have the Scriptures at hand, do not have so
much wisdom as to imitate the birds, and must
daily hear ourselves disgraced before God and the
people, as often as we hear little birds sing. But
man has become crazy and foolish, since he fell
away from God's word and command, so that hence-
forth there is no creature living that is not wiser
than he; and a little finch, that can neither speak
nor read, is his teacher and master in the Scrip-
tures, although he has the whole Bible and his
reason to help him.

This is the first illustration; to this he appends
a saying taken from our own experience, and shows
that our caring is useless and accomplishes nothing:
Who is there among you, (says he,) who can add
one cubit to his stature, although he is concerned
about it? If a man should never grow to full size
except through his own caring, how large would

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 343

we grow? or, of what avail would it be for a little
dwarf to worry himself to death how he might be-
come larger? What do you accomplish by cariug
where you are to get food and clothing? just as if
it stood in your power to make your body as stout
and as tall as you wished. Your body with all its
members is of definite size, and has its length and
breadth, so that you cannot make it otherwise, and
you are defied to make it a hair's-breadth taller.
What a fool then you are, that you are concerned
about that which is not within your power, and
which is already limited both as to time and ex-
tent, viz. how long your bodily life shall last, and
cannot trust him that he will procure for you also
both food and clothing as long as you have to live
here, etc. !

V. 28-30. And why take ye thought for raiment f Consider
the lilies of the field, how they grow ; they toil not, neither do
they spin : and yet I say unto you. That Solomon in all his
glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so
clothe the grass af the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is
cast into the oven, shall he libt much more clothe you, O ye of
little faith ?

Here j^ou have another illustration and compari-
son, in which the little flowers of the field, that are
trampled upon and eaten by the cattle, must also be-
come our teachers and masters, so that our disgrace
may become still greater. For see how they grow
up, so beautifully ornamented with colors, and yet

344 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

not one of them cares and thinks how it is to grow,
or what kind of color it is to liave, but it lets God
care for this; and, without any care or effort on its
part, God clothes it with such beautiful, lovely
colors, that Christ says that Solomon in all his
glory was not as beautiful as one of these ; yes, no
empress, with her whole retinue, with all her gold,
pearls and jewels. For he cannot name any king
who was richer, more glorious, and more splendidly
adorned than Solomon: yet the king, with all his
grand display and splendor, is nothing in compari-
son with a rose or pink or violet in the field. Thus
our Lord God can adorn whom he will adorn, so
that it deserves to be called adorned, and no man
can make or paint such a color, and wish for or get
another still more beautiful adornment; and if we
should beautify them with gold and satin, they
still would say: I would rather that my Master
up there in heaven should adorn me, who adorns
the little birds, than all the tailors and embroid-
erers on earth.

Since now he clothes and adorns so many flowers
with such various colors, and each has its own
dress, and outranks with it all worldly splendor,
why cannot we confide in him that he will also
clothe us? For what are the flowers and grass upon
the field in comparison with us? Or, for what were
they created except to stand there for a day or two,
and exhibit themselves, and then to wither and be-

SERMON ON THK MOUNT. 345

come liay; or, as Christ says, to be cast into the
oven, so that one may burn tliem and heat the oven?
Yet our Lord God holds these perishable and insig--
nificant things in such estimation, and bestows so
much expense upon them, that he adorns them
more splendidly than any king upon earth, though
they do not need this ornamentation, and it is even
lost upon them, as they soon perish along with the
flower. But we, his highest creatures, on whose
account he has made all else, and to whom he gives
everything, and who are of such account to him
that this life is not to be the end of us, but after
this life he means to give to us eternal life; should
not we have so much confidence in him, that
he will clothe us as he clothes the flowers of the
field and the birds of the air with manifold beauti-
ful colors and feathers? That is putting the case
as so dishonorable for us, and depicting our unbe-
lief as so disgraceful, that he could not make it
more contemptible.

But it is the [fault of the] miserable devil and
the terrible fall that we made, that we must see the
whole world full of these illustrations of the birds
against us, who with their example and appearance
rebuke our unbelief, and become our highest Doc-
tores^ sing and preach to us, and smile at us so
lovingly, that we should only believe; yet we live
on, let ourselves be preached and sung to, and keep
on avariciously raking together; but [it is] to our

346 Luther's commentary on the

eternal shame and disgrace that ever)' little flower
testifies against us and* condemns our unbelief
before God and all creatures until the judgment
day. Therefore he now concludes this sermon
before his Christians.

V. 31, 32. Therefore take no thought, saying. What shall we
eat f or. What shall we drink ? or. Wherewithal shall we be
clothed ? {For after all these things do the Gentiles seek .•) for
your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these
things.

Since you daily see these illustrations in every-
thing that lives and grows out of the earth, how
God nourishes and feeds it and most beautifully
clothes and adorns it: be induced to lay aside care
and unbelief, and consider that you are Christians
and not heathen. For such caring and avarice be-
long to the heathen, who do not know Qod, or ask
about him, and it is real idolatry, as St. Paul says,
and as was said also above, where he calls it serv-
ing mammon.

Therefore no greedy-belly is a Christian, al-
though he was baptized; but he has surely lost
Christ, and has become a heathen. For the two
cannot endure each other, to be avaricious and full
of care and to believe; one must exclude the other.
Now there is nothing more shameful before God
and all creatures, for Christians who hear and know
the word of God, than that they can be said to be
like the heathen who do not believe that God

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 347

nourishes thein and gives them everything, and
thus fall away from God, deny the faith, and pay
no regard either to his word or to these manifest
illustrations. This is a hard sentence that reason-
ably ought to alarm every one. For it is a prompt
conclusion, that a professed Christian should either
reflect, and leave off caring avariciously, or know
that he is no Christian, but ten times worse than a
heathen.

Besides, (he says,) since you are Christians, you
dare not doubt as to your Father's knowing very
well that you need all this; namely, that you have
a belly that needs eating and drinking, and a body
that needs to be clothed. If he did not know it,
then you would have cause to care and to think
how you might nourish ^-ourselves; but now that
he knows it, he will not neglect you. For he is
so kind that he gladly attends to it, and especially
for you Christians, because (as was said) he cares
also for the birds of the air. Therefore drop the
care, for at any rate you gain nothing by it. It
does not depend upon your caring, but upon his
knowing and caring. If nothing grew in the
field before we cared for it, we would all have died
in our cradles, and nothing could grow after night
when we are lying asleep; yes, if we were all to
worry ourselves to death, no stalk would grow in
the field for our caring; we must ourselves see and
comprehend that God gives everything without our

348 luthkr's commentary on the

caring for it; yet we are such godless people that
we will not cease our caring and avarice, nor allow
God alone to have the care, to whom alone it be-
longs, as to a father for his children.

V. 33 : Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteous-
ness ; aiid ait these things shall be added unto you.

The Lord saw very well, as I said, that none
among the outward, gross vices so outrageously
counteracts the gospel, and hinders [the progress
of] God's kingdom, as avarice. For as soon as a
preacher lays his plans for becoming rich, he no
longer rightly administers his office; for his heart
is ensnared by the care for the means of living, as
in a net, as St. Paul calls it, so that he can no
longer teach and rebuke, as and where he should;
concerned lest he might lose favor and friendship
among those from whom he can secure it: allows
himself to be misled, so that he keeps silent, and
misleads other people too; not through heresy, but
through his own belly, which is his idol. For he
who wants to be the right kind of a preacher, and
faithfully perform his duty, must retain and assert
his liberty unterrifiedly to tell the truth, without
respect of persons, and rebuking if necessary great
and small, rich, poor, powerful, friend and foe.
This avarice does not do. For it fears, if it should
offend many people or good friends, it would find
itself in want of bread. Hence it draws in its
whistles and keeps silence.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 349

In the same way also the mass of the people,
who are not preachers, but who should hear the
word of God, and help to further the kingdom of
God, every one in his own station and mode of
living, are not willing to run any risk or to be pre-
pared for or endure any want, for the sake of the
gospel; but they look out for it, first of all, that
they have enough, and that their belly is provided
for, no matter whether the gospel keeps up or lags
behind; thus they go along, raking and scraping,
as well as they can, giving the preachers nothing,
even besides taking from them what they may have.
Thus it goes according to the devil's wishes, so
that no one wants to preach or hear any more, and
thus both the doctrine and its fruits in the hearts
of the people disappear, and the kingdom of God
falls entirely away. This is alone the work of the
abouiinably devilish mammon. See, that is the
reason why the Lord Christ so faithfully warns his
own against it by such a long sermon.

And in order that we may the better guard our-
selves against it, he prescribes in these words a
very powerful remedy, how we are to treat it, so
that we do not need to care; and that we may yet
have enough, yes, a much greater and more excel-
lent treasure than mammon can give us, and than
we can get through our caring, and this remedy
is, to seek the kingdom of God.

But it is very important that it should be deeply

350 Luther's commentary on the

impressed upon our heart what the kingdom of
God is, and what it imparts. For if we could be
made to understand this, so that we would rightly
apprehend and could in our heart measure and
weigh how great and precious a treasure it is in
contrast with mammon or the kingdom of the
world, that is, everything upon earth, then we
would spit upon mammon. For what more would
you have, although you should have the posses-
sions and the power of the king of France, and of
the Turkish emperor besides, than a beggar before
the door has with his scraps? For the only thing
we have to do is daily to fill our belly; we can't
do anything more with all our worldly goods and
glory ; and the poorest beggar has as much of this
as the mightiest emperor, yes, his broken victuals
taste much better and do him more good than the
splendid, royal meal does to the latter. That is
the whole of it, and no one gets any more from it,
and in a little while we must say good-bye to it
all, and we cannot prolong our life with it for a
single hour when the time comes. Hence it is a
poor, miserable, yes a nasty, stinking kingdom.

What is, however, on the contrary, the kingdom
of God, or of the Lord Christ? Count that up for
yourself, and say, what is the creature in compari-
son with the Creator, and the world in comparison
with God? For if all heaven and earth were
mine alone, what would I have as over against

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 35I

God? Not as mucli as a little drop of water or a
particle of dust in comparison with the entire
ocean ; besides, it is such a treasure as cannot
cease or diminish and become smaller ; so that
both as to its greatness and durability it cannot be
measured or comprehended by any human heart or
senses; and shall I so shamefully reject and give
up God and his kingdom, that I may take this
dirty, deadly belly-kingdom in preference to that
divine, imperishable one that gives me eternal life,
righteousness, peace, joy and salvation? And every-
thing that I here in time seek and desire I am to
have in this one eternally, and everything immeas-
urably more glorious and superabundant than what
I can obtain here upon earth with great difficulty,
care and labor; and before I can get it, and can
accomplish what I want, I must go away and let
everything lie. Is that not a great, shameful folly
and blindness, that we do not see this? Yes, a
stubborn wickedness of the world, possessed by the
devil, that it will not be instructed or give heed
when we preach this to it?

Therefore Christ wishes with these words to stir
us up, and to say: if you wish to be properly
careful and solicitous about having always enough, ;
then seek for that treasure that is' called the kine-
dom of God. Do not be concerned for the tem-
poral, perishable treasure that is destroyed by moth
and rust, as he said before. You have a very dif-

352 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY OX THE

fereiit treasure in heaven, which I am pointing out
to you; care and seek for that, and contemplate
what you have in that, and }-ou will easily forget
the other. For it is a treasure of such a kind that
will sustain you forever, and cannot be lost or
taken away, so that because the treasure is endur-
ing and you clinging to it, you must also endure,
even though you have not a penny from the world.

It has often been told what the kingdom of God
is, namely, most briefly, that it does not consist in
external tilings, eating and drinking, etc., nor other
works which we can do; but in this, that we be-
lieve in Jesus Christ, who is the head and sole king
in this kingdom, in and through tvhom we have
everything, so that no sin, death and misfortune
can injure him who abides in it [the kingdom],
but he has eternal life, joy and salvation, which
here begin in this faith, but in the last day will be
revealed and eternally completed.

What now does it mean to seek this kingdom?
or how do we attain to it? What way must we
take? One points in this direction, another in
that. Thus, the pope teaches : Go to Rome and
get an indulgence, confess and do penance, read or
hear mass, put on a hood, and practice long public
worship and a severe, strict life. That is the way
we always used to run, just as we were told, as
silly and foolish people, and all wanted to find the
kingdom of God; but we found just the kingdom

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 353

of t'le devil. For there are many ways here, but
one and all are aside from the only [true] one,
which is to believe in Christ and to diligently
apply and use the gospel, upon which faith rests,
with preaching, hearing, reading, singing, medi-
tating, and in every possible way, so that one may
always at heart be growing and becoming stronger,
and give outward evidence by his fruits, so that he
maybe always promoting it and leading many others
to it; as we (thank God) are now doing, and there
are still many besides, both preachers and other
Christians, who with all diligence are busily urging
it on, so that they subordinate all that they have,
and would be ready to lose it all, rather than let go
of the word.

No monk, nun or -priest does or understands this,
although they boast that they are God's servants
and espoused to Christ. For they all miss the only
right way, and ignore the gospel; they know nei-
ther God nor Christ and his kingdom. For he
who wants to know and find it must not seek for it
after his own notion, but hear his word, as the
foundation and corner-stone, and see whither he
directs 3'ou and how he interprets it. Now his
word about his kingdom is this : He who believes
and is baptized shall be saved. This word was not
spun out of our heads, nor did it grow out of the
heart of any man; but it descended from heaven,
and was proclaimed by the mouth of God, so that
23

354 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

we nia}' be perfectly sure and not miss the right
way. Where now this is practised, both among
preachers and hearers, so that the word and sacra-
ments are diligently employed, where men live
accordingly and persevere in so doing, so that it
becomes known among the people, and the young-
people are drawn in and taught: that is what we
mean by seeking and promoting and being properly
concerned about the kingdom of God.

What is the meaning of his adding: And his
righteousness ? The kingdom has also a righteous-
ness; it is, however, a different righteousness from
that of the world, as it is also a different kingdom.
This means now the righteousness that is by faith,
that is efficient and active through good works; in
this way, that the gospel with me is a very serious
matter, and I diligently hear and practice it, and
am actually living in accordance with it, and am
not a trifling gossip or a hypocrite, who lets it in
at one ear and out at the other; but I am one who
gives practical proof that the kingdom is here, as
St. Paul says, i Cor. iv. 20: The kingdom of God
is not in word, but in power. That we call the
gospel with its fruits, that is, doing good works,
with diligence and fidelity attending to one's busi-
ness or office, and suffering variously for it. For
he calls righteousness in general the whole life of a
Christian with reference to God and man, as the
tree with its fruits; but not meaning that it is

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 355

therefore entirely perfect, but always improving;
as he here bids his disciples be always seeking, as
those who have not yet actually seized it, nor have
already completely learned and lived it. For iu
the kingdom of Christ it is with us half sin and
half holiness. For whatever of faith and of Christ
is in us, that is altogether pure and perfect, as not
of our own, but of Christ, who through faith is
ours, and lives and works in us. But what is still
our own, that is altogether sin, yet under and in
Christ covered over and obliterated through for-
giveness of sin, besides daily through the same
grace of the Spirit mortified, until we are entirely
dead to this life.

See, this belongs to the righteousness of this
kingdom, that it be upright and no hypocrisy.
For it is set over against those who talk and boast
indeed about the gospel, but have nothing of it in
their life. For it is in fact a hard thing to preach
the word of God and do good to everybody and
suffer all kinds of misfortunes besides; but for
that reason it is called the righteousness of God.
For the world does not relish it, that it should do
right and suffer harm for it; this is not a part of
its way of ruling. For there it is not right that
he who does right should be punished or suffer
violence, but should receive gratitude and some
good as his reward. But our reward is not stored
away for us upon earth, but in heaven: there we

356 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

will find it. Now he who knows this, and will do
accordingly, will have enough to do, so that he has
no need to seek other ways ; and he will probably
forget also avarice and the cares of nianinion.
For the world will make it so sour for him that he
will not care much for life and temporal good, but
he will become so tired of it that he will have to
be hourly looking and hoping for death.

This is the exhortation by which he points us
from temporal good to eternal treasure, so that we
may not esteem this good in comparison with the
one thai we have in heaven, etc. Along with this
he gives also a promise and a consolation, so that
we are not to think that he will therefore not give
us anything at all upon earth and let us die of
hunger, because we have so much to suifer from
the world that neither gives nor wishes us anything,
and we are hourly expecting that all we have shall
be taken from us ; but we must know that we are
still also here to have what we need for the re-
quirements of this life. Therefore he says: Seek
first the kingdom of God, then all these things
shall be added unto you ; that is, you shall have
besides to eat and to driSik and to wear, as an addi-
tion, without any care of your own, yes, just in
order that you may not care for those things and
for God's sake risk everything; and it will come
to you so that you will not know whence it comes,
as our daily experience teaches us. For God still

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 357

has SO much in the world that he can alslD feed his
own, since he feeds all the little birds and wonns,^
and clothes the lilies of the field, as we have
heard, yes, since he giveS and lets grow so much
for us wicked fellows : so that the world neverthe-
theless must let us eat and drink with it, although
this vexes it.

What more shall we now desire, if we know this,
if we have and handle God's word, and every one
does as he should, so that we have enough to eat and
to drink and wear, and get just as much ourselves as
a king or emperor, namely, that we feed our belly,
except that he to suit his rank must have more and
grander things, but still. does not enjoy anything
more; and my bread feeds me just as well, and my
clothes cover and warm me just as well as his royal
meal and his gold and silver pieces. For how
should it be possible that he should die of hunger
who serves God faithfully, and advances his king-
dom, since he gives in such superfluity to the whole
world? There would have to be no more bread
upon earth, or the heavens not be able to rain
any more, if a Christian should die of hunger; yes,
God himself must first have died of hunger.

Since now he has been creating and giving in
such superabundance, besides has so certainly prom-
ised that he will grive enough and so give before we
look for or know it: why will you then torment
yourself with that hateful caring and avarice?

358 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

Surely the Scriptures (especially the Psalms) are
full of such passages, that he will feed the pious iu
the time of fauiiiie, aud never has "seen his seed
begging bread." He will not prove a liar in your
case, if you can only believe. If now the world, as
it is, noblemen, peasants and civilians, does not do
it, he will still find people, or other means, through
which he can give, and more than they can now
take from you.

V. 34. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the
morrozu shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof

Care for this (he means to say,) how you may
keep with you the kingdom of God, and renounce
the other care so completely that you be not con-
cerned about the morrow. For when the morrow
conies it will bring its own- care; as we say: Comes
the day, so comes also the counsel. For our caring
accomplishes nothing at any rate, though I care for
only one day; and experience teaches that ofteu
two or three days slip away from us sooner than to-
day; and he to whom God is propitious and gives
success, can often without trouble and care ac-
complish more in an hour than some one else in
four whole days with great trouble and care; and
if he has been long at work and taken great
pains, making it wearisome to himself, another
might have accomplished it in an hour; so that no

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 359

one can do anything except when the time comes
that God gives, granted withont our caring ; and it
is in vain that you try to anticipate and by your
caring (as you suppose) do great things^

For our Lord God understands the art of secretly
shortening and lengthening time for us, so that to
one an hour may become a fortnight, and again in
such a way that one with long labor and toil gains
nothing more than another with short and easy
labor; as one can plainly- see daily, that there are
many who by hard, constant labor scarcely gain
their daily bread, and others without special labor
have so arranged and ordered their affairs that all
moves easily and they succeed. God does every-
thing in such a way that our caring does not
necessarily have the blessing. For we will not
wait, so that these good things may come to us
from God, but we want to find them ourselves before
the gift comes from God.

See how it is in the mines, where men are busily
digging and seeking; it still often happens, that
where one hopes to find the most ore, and where it
seems as if it was all to become gold, there nothing
is found, or it breaks off suddenly and disappears.
Again, in other places, that are regarded as failures
and neglected, there are unexpectedly the richest re-
sults; and one, who has invested all his property
tliere, gets nothing; another from a beggar be-
comes a lord; and afterwards, those who have

360 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

accumulated many thousand guldens before the
end of ten years again become beggars, and it does
not often happen that these large possessions reach
to the third heir. In short, the motto should be:
Not sought, but bestowed ; not found, but provi-
dential, if success and blessing is to come with it.
But we would like to make it so that it would
come as we plan; but that amounts to nothing;
for he thinks, on the other hand: You shall not get
it so, or at least not keep it long and enjoy it.
For I have myself known many persons who ran
their hands into pockets full of guldens, and
groschens were beneath their notice; but after-
wards they would have been glad if they 'could
have found as many pennies.

Since you now see that there' is no use in it, and
your caring does not avail, why do you not let it
alone and turn your thoughts upon having the
kingdom of God? For he will give to you; but
not because of your caring, even though you should
work. For such care accomplishes nothing; but
the care does that belongs to your office; and to the
kingdom of God it belongs that you do what is
commanded you, preach and propagate the word
of God, serve your neighbor according to your
calling, and take what God gives you. For those
are the best possessions that are not thought about,
but are bestowed and providential; and what we
have acquired by our caring or are proposing to

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 361

keep, will be likely first of all to fail us and go to
ruin, as often happens to the rich bellies, whose
grain and other stores often for their great care are
ruined; and it is a great grace that God does not
let us care for it how the grain grows in the field,
but gives it to us, whilst we are lying and sleep-
ing; else we would ourselves ruin it for us by our
caring and would get nothing.

Therefore he now says : Why will you be con-
cerned about more than the present day, and load
upon yourself the trouble of two days? Be content
with what the present day imposes upon }'ou;
to-morrow will bring something else^for you. For
he calls it an evil or plague that we are compelled
to support ourselves by the sweat of our brow, and
that we must have other providential daily cares,
misfortunes and dangers; as, if something be stolen
from you, or some other harm befall you; also, if
you become sick, or your domestics, etc., as it
hapj)ens in this life that we must daily expect and
see such trouble. Endure this evil, trouble and
misfortune, and do be content with it, for that is
enough for you to bear; and drop the anxiety, by
which you only make the trouble greater and
heavier than- it is in itself; and look at these illus-
trations, that God never made any one rich through
his anxious care, whilst many of them are most
anxiously caring and yet have nothing. But this !
indeed he does, if he sees that one is diligently and

362 lu-ther's commentary on the

faithfully attendino;^ to his duty, aud taking care to
do that so as to please God, and lets God care for
its success, him he abundantly blesses. For it
stands written, Prov. x. 4: "The hand of the
diligent maketh rich." For he wants none of
those who neither care nor work, like the lazy
gormandizing bellies, as if they had only to sit and
wait for him to send a roasted goose into their
mouth; but his command is, that we honestly lay
hold and work, then he will be on hand with his
blessing and give enough. I^et this suffice about
this sermon.

THE SEVENTH CHAPTER.

V. I. Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what
judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged : and with what meas-
ure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

In the previous chapter w^e heard how the Lord
Christ, in accordance with the doctrine of really
good works, delivered a long sermon as a warning
against avarice, as something that greatly hinders
the kingdom of God, both in doctrine and life,
and does deadly harm in Christendom. Here he
now begins to warn further against another thing
that is also a great, ruinous vice, and is called self-
conceited-wisdom, that judges and blames every-
body. For where these two vices rule, there the gos-
pel cannot abide. For the effect of avarice is either

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 363

that the preachers keep silence, or that the hearers
pay no regard to the gospel, which thus through
contempt is disregarded. But if selfish-wisdom be
conjoined with avarice, then every one claims to
be the best preacher and himself master; no one
will hear or learn from others. Then come sects
and parties that falsify and corrupt the word so
that it cannot remain pure, and thus again the
gospel with its fruits is undermined. This is what
he here now calls judging or passing sentence,
when every one is satisfied only with what he does
himself, and whatever others do must stink. A
beautiful, gracious virtue! and the tip-top man
whom we call Mr. Selfconceit, who is not liked
either by God or the world, and yet is to be found
everywhere.

But, lest we may stumble at this preaching and
misunderstand it, if hereby it were altogether for-
bidden to judge and pass sentence, it is clear from
what has often been said above, that Christ is
preaching here only to his disciples, and is not at
all speaking of the judgment or punishment that
must occur in the world; as father and mother at
home among the children and servants must judge,
rebuke, and also chastise, if they will not do right.
Thus, a prince or a judge, if he means to discharge
his duty properly, cannot do otherwise than to
judge and punish. That belongs to secular gov-
ernment, which has nothing to do with us. There-

364 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

fore we will not interfere with how things should
go in that sphere. But here we are speaking of
another kingdom, that does not indeed weaken oj
annul the other, namely, spiritual life and being
among Christians; here it is forbidden for one to
judge and condemn another. For there it occurs
that the devil always mixes in and carries on his
business, so that every one thinks well of himself,
and believes that his way alone must avail and be
the best, and blames and nullifies ever}thing that
is not measured by his standard.

This is now in secular affairs a supreme folly, and
may be tolerated, though it is wrong, for it is so
gross that every one understands it; as when a harlot
imagines herself prettier than all others, and what
she sees in others does not please her; or that a
young fool will be so handsome and smart, that he
does not know his like; and then, among the wise
and learned, where this is very much in vogue, so
that no one admits the value of anything that an-
other knows or does, and every one claims to be the
only one that can do everything better, and finds
fault with everybod^^ Everybody sees and under-
stands this very well; yet everywhere is this Mr.
Selfconceit, who knows himself to be so smart, that
he can bridle the horse by the tail, when all the
rest of the world must bridle it by the mouth.

But when this occurs among us in spiritual
affairs, and the devil sows his seed in the kingdom

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 365

of Christ, so that it takes hold both of doctrine and
life, then comes serious trouble. In the matter of
doctrine the result is, that, although God has given
and entrusted it to some one to preach the gospel,
others are found, even among the disciples, who
assume to know it ten times better than he, and
the gospel must have the worry and misfortune to
be judged by everybody, and every one becomes a
doctor, and claims to be himself a master in doc-
trine; just as happened to Moses, Numbers xvi.,
when Korah with his crowd rose up against him
and said: "Ye take too much upon you, seeing all
the congregation are holy. Should God speak
alone through Moses and Aaron ?" — just as they say
now: Should we not just as well have the Spirit
and understand the Scriptures as others? Then
there- is at once another doctrine dished up and
sects started, and judging begins and denouncing,
and especially the shameful slandering that one
party most bitterly blames and misrepresents the
other; as we learn now very well through experi-
ence. Hence follows the deadly harm that Chris-
tendom is divided and the pure doctrine every-
where suffers wreck.

This Christ dreaded, yes not only dreaded, but
also foretold, that such would be the case. For
nothing else can be made out of the world, even
if we were to preach ourselves to death. There-
fore, wherever the gospel flourishes, there parties

366 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

and sects must follow, that again spoil and check
it. The reason is: the devil must sow his seed
among the good seed, and where God builds a
church, he builds a chapel or a tabernacle along-
side. For Satan wants to be always among the
children of God, as the Scriptures say. Therefore
Christ means hereby to warn his apostles and sincere
preachers to guard themselves diligently against
this vice, and to see to it that they do not let it come
in to create separation and disunion, especially in
doctrine ; as though he meant to say: If you wish
to be my disciples, then let your understanding
and opinions in doctrine be alike and of one kind,
so that no one may wish to be master, and know
something new or better, and judge or condemn
the rest; and do not pay special regard to persons,
but abide by what I command you to preach, and
be of one accord, so that one does not despise the
other, or start something new.

Yet understand it so, that still it is not forbidden
to him who is officially appointed to preach, to
judge in regard to doctrine, besides also in regard
to life. For it is his official duty publicly to re-
buke what is not in accordance with the true doc-
trine, just for the reason that he may not allow
sects to enter and arise; in like manner, when he
sees that one is not living aright, that he also re-
buke and warn. For he is there for the reason
that he may look into this, and he must answer for

SKRMON ON THE MOUNT. 367

it Yes, every Christian, if he sees his iieio^hbor
doing wrong, is bound to reprove him and put him
on his guard. And this cannot be done without
judging. But all this is done by virtue of one's
office or authority, about which Christ is not here
speaking; as has been sufficiently stated.

But this is forbidden, that every one take his
own way for it and make a doctrine and spirit of
his own, and imagine himself to be Mr. Extra-
wise and undertake to master and rebuke every-
body, nothing of which has been committed to
him. These are the ones whom Christ here re-
bukes. For he means that nothing should be
undertaken or done from one's own notion without
being commanded, especially as to the judging of
other people. That I now call judging in doctrine,
one of the highest, most disgraceful and dangerous
vices upon earth, from which all the factious spirits
have arisen, and of which hitherto monks, priests,
and all that were in the papacy, were guilty of,
when every one asserted that his matter was the
best and denounced others; of which there is now
no need to speak.

The other kind of judging is that regarding the
life, when one blames and condemns the life and
works of another, and is not pleased with anything
that others do; that is indeed a widely diffused,
common vice. Now we are under strict orders, so
that, just as in regard to doctrine we are to be of

368 luthrr'vS commentary on the

one iiiiiid and understanding or faith: so also we
are to be disposed alike and to have the same sort of
heart in external life, although that cannot be all
of the same kind as in the case of f^iith. For,
since there are many kinds of callings, the works
of them must be unlike and of various kinds.
Besides, in this life, that is in itself of various kinds,
we find also faults of many kinds, as, some very
strange, irascible, impatient people; as it cannot
but be among Christian people, since our old
Adam is not yet dead, and the flesh is always
striving against the spirit.

Here comes in play now a virtue which is called
tolerantia and re?mssw peccatoriim^ so that one
bears with another, has patience with and forgives
him;, as St. Paul so beautifully teaches, Rom. xv.
I, We that are strong ought to bear the infirmities
of the weak, and not to please oiirselves; just as
Christ says here: Judge not, etc., so that those who
have high and better gifts in Christendom, (as
some must have, especially the preachers,) still they
may not take on any different airs or think them-
selves any better than those who do not have them:
so that in spiritual matters no one should lord it
over others. Externally there must be a difference,
a prince higher and better than a farmer, a preacher
more learned than an ordinary mechanic; thus a
master cannot be a servant, a mistress be a maid,
etc., but nevertheless in this distinction the hearts

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 369

are to be similar]}' disposed and pay no regard to
that dissimilarity.

This is done if I bear with my neighbor, al-
though he be of a lower rank and have fewer gifts
than I, and I am just as well pleased with his work,
in attending as my house-servant to my horse, as
with my own, being a preachei or ruler of land and
people, although mine is better and of more im-
portance than his. For I must not look at the
outward masks, but that he lives in the same faith
and in Christ, and has just as much from the grace,
baptism and sacrament, although I have a different,
higher work and office. For God is all the same,
who does and gives all this, and is just as much
pleased with the smallest as with the very greatest.

In contrast with this there is ruling in the
world the praiseworthy, beautiful virtue of which
St. Paul speaks, that every one pleases himself, as,
if a man comes along in the devil's name, and can-
not look at his own vices, but only at those of
others; which adheres to us all by nature, and of
which we cannot be rid, even though we are bap-
tized, so that we are fond of beautifying and adorn-
ing ourselves and seeing what is good in ourselves,
and flattering ourselves with it as if it were our
own; and, in order that we may alone be beautiful,
we do not look at that which is g-ood in our neiq-h-
bor; but, leaving that out of view, if we notice a
little pimple, we fill our eyes with it, and make it
24

370 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

SO large, that we see nothing good on acconnt of
it, although he may have eyes like a falcon and a
face like an angel. Just as if I saw some one in a
golden garment, and there were perhaps a seam or
a white thread drawn through it, and I would
thereupon look amazed, as if it were on that af-
count to be despised, and' I on the other hand con-
gratulate myself upon my coarse blouse, with a
golden patch upon it. So we do not look at our
own vices, of which we are full, yet cannot see
anything good in other people. If now this natural
evil habit finds its way among Christians, there we
begin to judge, so that I readily despise and con-
demn another if he stumbles a little or is faulty,
and he again does the same to me, measures me
with the same measure, (as Christ here says,) seeks
for and rebukes also only the worst that he can
find about me. Thereby love is quite suppressed,
and there remains only a biting and devouring of
one another until they entirely eat each other up
and altogether lose their Christianity.

The same is the case if one looks at the life of
another, and will not look at himself, then one
soon finds something that displeases him ; another
finds the same also in us; just as the heathen com-
plain about affairs among them, that no one sees
what he carries on his own back, but he who
comes after him sees it very well ; that is, no one
sees where he himself is lacking, but he soon sees

SERMON ON THR MOUNT. 37I

it in another. If one looks at other people in this
way, the only result is a slandering and judging
of one another. The devil instigates this among
Christians, and carries it on to such an extent that
there is nothing left among them but harsh judg-
ing in regard to the way of living, as also in re-
gard to doctrine ; so that the kingdom of Christ
(which is a harmonious and peaceable kingdom,
both in doctrine and life) is divided, and in place
of it the spirit of sectism, arrogance and contempt
prevails.

Therefore it is highly necessary that we be
warned to learn and habituate ourselves to bear
with, cover over and adorn our neighbor's faults,
i-f we have attended to our own official duty,
whether it be preaching and publicly rebuking, or
fraternally exhorting (of which Matthew xviii.
teaches) ; and if I see anything in my neighbor
that does not altogether please me, that I turn and
look at myself, when I will also find much that
does not please other people, and which I would
be glad to have excused and borne with ; thus the
itching will soon subside that tickles itself and is
amused at the faults of others, and Mr. Self-con-
ceit will scamper off and drop his judging. Yes,
you will be glad, so that you may soon settle the
matter with your neighbor and first of all say:
Ivord, forgive me my debt ; and then say to your
neighbor : If you have sinned against me, or I
against you, now let us forgive each other.

372 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

But if you see that he is quite too discourteous,
and will not cease without your rebukin<^- him,
then go and tell him himself about it, as it is now
and often has been said, (Matt, xviii.) that he may
reform aud desist. That is not judging and con-
demning, but fraternally exhorting to betterment,
and in this way the exhortation would be made in
a peaceable way, according to God's command.
Otherwise, with your tickling, ridiculing and
mocking, you only embitter your neighbor against
you, and harden him, and )ou yourself become
much worse than he is, and twice as great a sinner,
by withdrawing your love from him and taking
pleasure in his sin, and besides you expose yourself
to the judgment of God, and condemn him whom
God has not condemned, and thus invoke upon
yourself so much the heavier judgment, which
Christ here gives warning of, and you deserve that
God should the more surely condemn you.

See, this shameful evil all comes, as St. Paul
says, from our pleasing ourselves, playing and toy-
ing with our gifts as if they were our own; but see-
ing nothing in another except where he is faulty,
and thus becoming entirely blind, so that we see
neither ourselves nor our neighbor aright. When
we should look into our own bosom and see first
wherein we fail, that we do not do; but we have a
blearness before our eyes, so that we think ourselves
good-looking, if we observe a gift in ourselves that

SERMON ON THE MOUNT, 373

our neighbor has not, and by that very thing are
spoiled, and we also do not see in our neighbor what
is good in him, for we should alwa}S find as much of
that as we now see of his faults. We should also
be pleased with what is good in him and make due
allowance, if there be some faultiness in it; as we
please ourselves and readily apologize for ourselves.
In short, it is the worst vice and a devilish
pride, that we are self-satisfied and merry if we see
or feel a good trait in ourselves, and do not thank
God for it, but become proud, and despise others,
anc^have our eyes so completely filled with it that
we do not care what else we do, thinking we are
all right : we plunder and rob God thus of his
honor, make an idol out of ourself, and do not see
our trouble that we thereby occasion; for we would
have enough else upon us, if we would look at it
aright, as Apocalypse iii. 17, says' to a bishop who
thought himself more learned than others : Thou
sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and
have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou
art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind,
and naked. For although it is true that thy gift
is greater than that of another; as it must be,
since thine office is different, higher and greater:
but with the disgraceful addendum that thou dis-
playest thyself in it, and thus pleasest thyself, thou
dost totally ruin it, and makest the same high
ornament viler than the faults of all others.

374 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

For the greater the gifts are, the more disgrace-
fully are they perverted if you make an idol out of
them, just as if you were to mix poison with excel-
lent malmsey-wine. Thus you have now hit it
admirably well, that you judge another on account
of a small fault, and fall yourself with your self-
esteem into the grievous sin; that you are ungrateful
to God, yes, enthrone yourself in his place in }our
heart, and interfere with his jurisdiction, where one
sin is weightier than those of all other men; be-
sides, you become insolent toward your neighbor
and so thoroughly blind that you no longer ^an
know or look at God, your neighbor, or yourself.

What else do you accomplish by this judging
than that you invoke the judgment of God against
yourself? So that he reasonably must say to you :
I did not bestow these gifts upon you in order that
you might despise your neig'hbor and serve your-
self with them, but that you should serve your
neighbor, who is poor and frail, and me. But you
go on, and never once thank me for them, as if all
had sprung from your own heart, and you employ
my own gift against me and your neighbor, and
make a tyrant of yourself, a jailor and judge against
your neighbor, whom you ought in love to bear
with, to improve and to lift up if he should fall.
What will you then answer when he thus will ad-
dress you (as he here gives you timely notice),
except that this sentence is justly pronounced

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 375

against you, that you are making not a mote, as
you perhaps see in your neighbor's eye, (as Christ
here says,) but a great beam out of a little mote.

I will say nothing about the fact that, with this
wretched judging you are not only culpable ou
account of the act itself; but it usually happens
that he who thus judges is himself a greater sinner
than others; so that, if he were to go back and read
his own record and register, how he has lived from
his youth up, he would hear a story that would
make him shudder, and which he would be glad to
have unnoticed by other people.

But now every one takes it for granted that he is
pious, and wants to forget all the past, and blame
and condemn a poor man who has once sinned.
Thus he is involved in a double calamity, that he
disreg^ards his earliest life and forgets what he was;
he does not think how it would have grieved him
if he had been ridiculed and condemned. That is
one sin, that he is ungrateful, and has forgotten
the forgiveness of sins, the grace and all the good-
ness of God. The other, that he loses his piety
and sets in array against himself all his former
sins, by the very fact that he makes a display of
himself in his piety, and becomes seven times
worse than before.

For, do you not think that God can lay a list
before your nose, and present not only your crimes
and the sins of your youth, but also your whole

3/6 Luther's commentary on the

life that yon have regarded as excellent? as now
the recluse life of the monks; how will you then
stand and answer for daily blaspheming and cruci-
fying his Son with your masses and other idolatries?
That's the wa}- it goes, if we forget what we have
been, we may then well judge others. But the
orders are: Jack, take yourself by your own nose,
and reach into your own bosom; if you want to
seek and judge a scamp you'll find the greatest
scamp upon earth, so that you will readily forget
other people and be glad at once to let them alone.
For you will never find in another as much sin as
in yourself For if }ou do see many in another,
you see only a year or two; in yourself, however,
your whole life, especially the dark spots of which
others know nothing, so that you mnst be ashamed
of yourself See, that would be a good cure for
the shameful vice, that you do not please your-
self but pray God to forgive you and otliers.

Secondly, that, although you see something bad
in your neighbor, you are not on that account to
despise and condemn him; but on the other hand
to see his good things, and with your own good
things and gifts to help, cover over, adorn and
advise him; and 3-ou should know that, although
you were the holiest and most pious, yet you
would become the very worst if you judge another.
For your gifts were not bestowed upon you that
you may tickle yourself with them, but that you

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 377

may help your neighbor with them, if he needs it,
so that with your strength you may bear his weak-
ness, may cover and adorn his sin and shame with
your piety and honor, as God through Christ has
done to you and still does daily. If you will not
do that, and will tickle yourself with them and
despise others: then know this, if another in your
presence has a mote in his eye, you towards him,
before God, have a beam in your own.

So you see why Christ speaks so sharply against
this vice and pronounces the strict sentence : He
who judges, shall be judged; as is also reasonable.
For, since you interfere with God's judgment, and
condemn those whom God has not condemned, you
give him reason again to damn you to hell with
your whole life, although you had been ever so
pious, and to raise to honor the neighbor whom
you judged and condemned, and besides also to
make him a judge over you, and cause him to find
ten times as much in you to condemn as you found
in him. So you have made a pretty muss of it,
that you have angered and turned against you both
God and your neighbor; and thus you lose at the
same time both the grace of God and Christian
life, and become worse than a heathen, who knows
nothing about God,

V. 3-5. ll-^/iy beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother'' s
eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye ? Or
how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out

37S LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

of thine eye, and behold a beam is in thine ozaji eye? Thou
hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then
shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

In order that he may the more diligently warn
us to guard against this vice, he uses a simple com-
parison and sets it clearly before us, saying that
every one who judges his neighbor has a great
beam in his eye, whilst he who is judged has only
a mote ; that he is ten times more deserving of
judgment and condemnation, for the very reason
that he condemns others. This is indeed a terrible,
dreadful sentence. Where are now the factious
spirits and Messrs. Wiseacres, who are great at
mastering and finding fault with the Bible, and can
do nothing else than to judge us and others? — when
there is yet nothing to blame, or perhaps they dis-
cover a mote in us, for which they bitterly accuse
us; as now the papists revile. When they try their
best, and adduce great reason forjudging and con-
demning us, this is the greatest, that some of ours
hold ecclesiastical properties; or they accuse us of
not fasting, and of whatever else that has any sem-
blance of involving some faults. But they cannot
notice their beam, that they persecute the gospel,
murder the innocent on account of it, whilst they
are themselves the great arch-robbers and thieves
of monasteries and church properties.

For what robberies are not now committed by
pope, bishops and princes? they are doing as they

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 379

please with all the spiritual establishments ; but
[they maintain] that no one else is a real bishop, nor
has his own with God and honor, and holds his seat
as a thief and a robber: and yet all [with them] must
be excellent, and not be called stolen or robbed.
But, that we do not fast, or so strictly observe their
style of righteousness, which they yet do not them-
selves observe, this must be alone evil, and all their
sin and shame be pious and honorable. Thus it is
throughout the world, that everywhere a beam
judges the mote, and a great rogue condemns a
small one.

Now it is true that we are not without faults,
yes, no Christian will get so far as to be without a
mote. For St. Paul himself could not do it, as he
complains in the seventh of Romans; and all
Christendom must daily pray: Forgive us our
debts, and it confesses the article of the Creed that
is called the forgiveness of sins. But these beam-
carriers and mote-judges will not endure this arti-
cle, and will have everything so pure that there
may be no want or fault in it ; and as soon as they
see anything of this kind, they fall to judging and
condemning, as if they were so holy as not to need
any forgiveness of sins or any praying; they want
to reform the Lord's Prayer and obliterate the
chief article of the Creed, whilst they are com-
pletely full of blindness and devils, and have heart-
grief over the motes of other people; and among

380 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

ourselves, if we too become foolish, those who are
full of vices and wickedness cannot cease looking
at and condemning the small vices of others, so
that the beam is master and judge of the mote.

But he who is a Christian must know (and will
surely himself feel) that we cannot get along so
faultlessly, without the mote, and the article of the
forgiveness of sins must daily rule in us. There-
fore one can easily excuse the faults of other peo-
ple, and include them in the Lord's Prayer, when
he says: Forgive us, as we forgive, etc., especially
if he sees that one loves and esteems the word, and
does not despise or abuse it. For where that is,
there is the kingdom of Christ and full forgiveness,
by which the mote is consumed. Therefore we
should not despise or condemn any one, if we ob-
serve this; or we shall also make of our own mote
a beam, so that we also do not receive forgiveness,
because we are not willing to forgive others.

Thus you say: Shall I then not rebuke if I see
that wrong is done, or am I to call it right and
sanction it? Or am I to be pleased that they seize
the monastic properties, or live so coarsely, do not
pray, or fast, etc. No; that is not what I mean.
For he confesses here that there is a mote, and that
it is to be taken away. But he teaches you how
to go about it properly. I must say it is indeed
not pleasant, the mote in the eye; but that I must
see to it first of all that I do not have a beam in my

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 38 1

own eye and first take that out. First make the
rogue in your own breast pious, then add to this,
that the small one also becomes pious. For it is
of no account that the great thieves hang the small
ones, (as we say,) and great rogues condemn the
little ones. If the pope with his followers would
begin here and they would first sweep before their
own door, that they would not themselves be arch-
thieves and scoundrels, we would also have to
follow suit, or suffer for it. But now they will not
let go their beam, and will have it unrebuked, and
they condemn us because we still have a mote, and
do not keep ourselves as pure as we should; and
the result is, that the great heretic, the pope, con-
demns the other little heretics, and the great
thieves, that are openly and continually stealing
and robbing, must make the little thieves pious,
and hang and pay for them.

This perverted business shall not exist in my
kingdom (says Christ), but thus [it shall be], that
you first make pious the great rogue that you will
find in your own skin, if you properly look at
yourself; afterwards, if you have accomplished
this, you can easily make pious a little rogue.
But you will be astonished at the trouble you will
find with the great rogue, so that I may readily
become security to you, and give my head as a
pledge, that you will never get so far as to remove
the mote from another's eye, and must say: Must I

382 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

first deal with other people and make them pious?
Why, I cannot make myself pious, or become rid
of the beam ; and thus your brother's mote will
not be apt to be disturbed by you. See, this is
what Christ means to say, that one should gladly
forgive another and patiently bear with him, and
all should show humility towards one another ; as
it would necessarily be if we would obey this
teaching. Thus everything would move along
nicely in Christendom, in true harmony, and God
would be with us. But the devil prevents it from
coming to this by means of his adherents and
rebellious spirit.

And it ought to make us dread this vice, that he
holds up before us such a dreadful decision, as I
have said, that always he who judges has before
God a beam in his eye ; and the other, who is
judged, only a mote. Now the beam is immeas-
arably a greater sin than the mote, that is, such a
sin as completely condemns us, and for which
there is no mercy. For however great otherwise
our sins and faults may be, he can forgive them
all ; as he shows by this, that he calls the sin of
the neighbor a mote. But this is the shameful ad-
dition and vileness, that ruins everything, that
you judge and condemn another on account of his
faults, and do not forgive as you wish that God
should forgive you ; you go along and will not see
this beam, thinking that you are without sin.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 383

But if you know yourself (as was said), you would
also avoid judging your neighbor, and thus also
your beam would be small and be called a mote,
and attain forgiveness of sin, and you would also
gladly forgive and bear with and excuse the mote
of another, in view of the fact that God forgives
and excuses your beam for you.

But it is rightly called a beam in the eye, that
makes a man completely stone and cataract-blind,
and which the world cannot see or judge. Yes, it
is adorned with such a show that the world sup-
poses it to be a, splendid affair and great holiness ;
and just as Christ before said concerning the evil
eye, that the avaricious kindle for themselves a
light, and imagine a happy thought, that it must
not be called greediness, but divine worship; so it
is here also, that those vAio have the beam will for-
sooth have no beam or be rebuked, as being blind
and miserable people, but praised as those who
with true Christian intent judge the doctrine and
life of others: as the factious spirits can admirably
boast and swear that they do not teach otherwise
out of any pride or envy, but they seek only God's
glory and their neighbor's welfare, they make it so
beautiful and clear, and their humility and regard
for God's honor is so great that they see nothing else
than that. Thus it is also in life, if people begin
to judge and blame one another; then we see the
same covering-over and boasting; I do it not from

384 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

eiiinit}- to the person, but from love for righteous-
ness. The person I am favorable to, but the cause
I oppose. That tickles then so gently under the
beautiful show, that one is never aware of any
beam.

But it is all wrong for you to judge and decide
yourself, as you choose, without the word and com-
mand of God, and then call it God's honor and
righteousness; but it is a devilish addition, that
ornaments itself with such a covering and beauti-
fies itself. For here you hear, that God will not
allow us to undertake to be judges, either in doc-
trine or life; but where judging or rebuking is nec-
essary, that those do it who are officially com-
manded to do it, preachers, pastors in spiritual
affairs, and civil authorities in worldly government;
or a brother with a brother, solely from brotherly
love, that bears with and corrects the faults of our
neighbor.

V. 6. Give 7iot that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast
ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample thein under theit
feet, and turn again and rend you.

The Lord Christ has now nearly finished his in-
structions in regard to the fruits and works that
follow his teaching, and now begins a warning or
exhortation to put us on our guard against other
teaching; as he also exhorts his apostles, when he
sends them forth to preach, and says: Behold, I

SERMON ON THF, MOUNT. 385

send you forth as sheep among- wolves; therefore
be ye wise as serpents and harmless as doves. For
a Christian, who is to minister the word of God
and preach, and confess it in his life, truly lives in
a dangerous calling, on account of the people, and
has great reason for impatience, since the world is
so dreadfully wicked, and he lives in it as among-
serpents and all sorts of vermin. Therefore sa-\-s
he : Beware that ye cast not your holy things be-
fore swine and dogs. For they might trample
them under foot, or turn against and rend you;
meaning thereby to show and teach them that
whenever they come and preach in public before
the masses, they will also find dogs and swine, that
do nothing else than trample upon the gospel and
then also persecute the preachers.

Who are they then that trample upon our holy
things and turn against us? This happens now
again in two things, doctrine and life. For first
of all the false teachers do it, who take and learn
our gospel from us and thus get our jewel and
precious treasure, in which we have been baptized,
live and boast ourselves, etc., and then go to their
own haunts and begin to preach against us, and
turn their snouts and teeth against us; as now our
swarm of sectaries, that formerly kept very still
when the pope was raging and ruling, so that one
did not hear them peep; but now, since we opened
the way and with great danger to ourselves freed
25

386 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

them from the tyranny of the pope, and they have
heard onr doctrine and can imitate ns in preaching,
they go and turn against us and are onr worst ene-
mies upon earth, and nobody has preached as badly
as we, without whom they would have known
nothing about it.

Secondly, in the matter of living it is all the
same, especially among us, where people despise or
have become tired of the gospel, and it has already
gone so far that they will hardly sustain a preacher
any more; especially squire Greedy-jack in the
country, who monopolizes all the propert}- and sup-
ports the preachers in such a way that they lose
all appetite for preaching, and he makes servants
out of them, so that they must preach and do
what he chooses. He is followed by Squire Skin-
flint in town, and Mr. Everybody, who act as if
t-liey did not want to have any gospel or word of
God, and yet owe to us their freedom from the
tyranny of the pope and all other good things that
t-hey have. But now they would like to drive us
along with the gospel out of the country, or to
starve us.

Well, we cannot make it otherwise, we must en-
dure it, that these snakes, dogs and hogs are about
us, that are abusing the gospel, both as to teaching
and living; and where there are preachers of the
right kind, they must always be treated in this
way. For this is the fortune of the gospel in the

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 387

world; and if it ever happens again, (as I have often
predicted, and fear it may only too soon happen,)
that such people as the .popes and bishops reign,
then it will be completely put out of the way and
trampled under foot, and its preachers will be gone.
For the gospel must be everybody's floor-cloth, so
that all the world may walk over it and trample
upon it, together with its preachers and disciples.

What are we now to do about it? Cast it not
(says Christ) before swine and dogs. Yes, dear
Lord, they already have it. For, since it is pub-
licly preached, we cannot prevent their falling in
with it and seizing it. But they still do not really
have it, and we'll prevent them (thank God !) from
getting that which is holy ; the shells and husks
they may indeed have, that is, carnal liberty ; but
let none of them, whether dog or hog, a greedy-
jack, or miser, or peasant, get a letter of the gospel,
although he may read all the books, and hear all
the sermons, and have the notion that he thor-
oughly understands it.

Therefore the right thing for us to do, as Christ
here teaches, is for us, when we see such a hog or
dog before us, to separate ourselves from him as
we do from these factious spirits, and to have no
fellowship with them, and administer no sacra-
ment to them, impart no gospel consolation to
them, but show them that they are not to enjoy
anything of Christ, our treasure. If we do this,

388 luthhr's commentary on the

we have completely withheld from them the pearls"
and that which is holy. For no skin-flint or boor,
fanatic or captions spirit, shall get the gospel and
Christ from me unless he beforehand asks me
about it and coincides with me, so that I, or any
proper preacher, may say yes to it. For hp who has
the gospel aright, must surely hold it with ns and
be of one mind, in case we are sure, in advance,
that we have the true gospel and the pearls.
Therefore he must surely not trample ns under
foot as Squire Greedy-jack, nor condemn us as the
sectaries, nor despise us as the peasants, in towns
and villages ; but hold the dear word in honor, as
well as all that preach and gladly hear it. If not,
let us regard them as hogs and dogs, and tell them
that they shall get nothing from us ; meanwhile
let them read and hear and call themselves evan-
gelical, if they will, as I have to do with some
miserly fellows and towns. For this is certain, he
who despises the ministerial office will not have
much regard for the gospel. Since then they
trample under foot the preachers and pastors, and
treat them more shamefully than the peasants do
their swine, we take back again to ourselves our
pearls, and we will see what they will have of the
gospel without any thanks to us. If you can
trample God's word and his preachers under foot,
he can trample you too under foot.

This now Christ means to say : If you see that

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 389

people will despise your preaching and trample it
under foot, then have no fellowship with them and
get away from them ; as he also says in the eigh-
teenth of Matthew : If he neglect to hear thee and
the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man
and a publican; in such a way that we say to them
that they are not Christians, but damned heathen,
and we will not have anything preached to them
or let them have any part of our good things, as
Peter, in the eighth of Acts, says to Simon Magus.
This is the way that I do, and all that preach the
gospel in earnest, lest we make ourselves partakers
of their sins. For God will not have us to play
the hypocrite in this way with our sectaries, as if
they were right in their teaching ; but we must
regard them as enemies, as separated from them
with gospel, baptism, sacrament and all their way
of teaching and living. Thus we must also say to
our own people, if they wish to have part in the
gospel, that they must everywhere not despise us^
but give practical proof that they are in earnest
with it, and at least that they hold the word and
sacrament in honor and submit to it with humil-
ity.

Yes, (they say,) in this way they want to get
into power again, and put themselves again into a
position of authority, like that hitherto occupied
by the pope; this would be unendurable, and we
might rather have remained under the pope. An-

390 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

swer: Yes, indeed, I have myself been much con-
•cerued lest that ma}' be the result. But the way
that they are taking, by despising and trampling
upon them [the preachers of the word] is not the
way to accomplish what they are aiming at, viz. :
to prevent the tyranny of the pastors, but just the
right beginning to effect it For if these are out of
the way, whom they have trampled under foot and
driven off, they will still not be able to be without
pastors or preachers. For Christ will maintain his
rule in the world, so that still his gospel, baptism,
sacrament must abide. Although no prince were
willing to protect it, he will do it, since the Father
has placed him at his right hand, and means that
he is to be I^ord. Even if they now drive off all
the pastors, they will not hurl Christ from his
throne. Therefore this will happen to them: be-
cause they will not have nor endure the upright,
pious preachers, God will make for them others
who will force them and tyrannize over them,
worse than before.

Therefore they are on the right track, our Greedy-
jacks and others, who put their heads together and
think they will silence us and compel us to submit
to them, not knowing that another One is sitting
up there who reigns supreme, and says: If you
will not have right preachers, then have the devil
with his preachers, who preach lies to you; these
you must accept, and besides be ruled and tor-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 39I

f

niented by them; as those parts of our Geriiiany
are now already suffering, where they not only
refuse the gospel but are persecuting it, so that
they have all their corners full of sectaries, fanatics
and anabaptists, and cannot prevent it.

But the right way to prevent this is to embrace
the gospel earnestly and faithfully, beseech God
that he may send true, faithful workmen into his
harvest ; then there need be no fear. For these
preachers would not oppress or force us, or do us
any harm in body or soul, but help everybody and
do all the good possible; as has been learned in re-
gard to ourselves, who may well boast before God
and the world, that we have not sought any au-
thority or advantage for ourselves, but have served
all the world with our body and life ; we have
neither encumbered nor harmed anybody, but have
gladly helped everybody, also in temporal things,
and besides have suffered for it manifold danger,
violence and persecution. But, since they don't
want us any more, may God grant that others
come after us who will treat them differently, op-
press, torment and skin them, so that they may see
what they had in us, and they must suffer it from '
those whom they now do not look at and would
not like to have as stable servants. For they de-
serve nothing better than to have these tyrants
whom they must fear, as they had the pope ; he
was the rig-ht sort of a ruler for them. Our

392 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY OX THE

cranky princes, too, have already learned it, and
think they would like to be rid of compnlsion and
no longer fear the pope ; they begin to protect the
priests, but not for their sake, but that they may
force them into subjection to themselves, so that
they may live by their favor, and they protect
them in such fashion that they should rather come
over to us, whom they regard as enemies, than to
allow themselves to be plucked by them, under
the name of protection. But it cannot be other-
wise, and the)- are both rightly served.

But it must not be so among Christians, but up-
right, pious people should hold their pastors and
preachers in high honor, with all humility and
love, for the sake of Christ and his word, and have
great regard for them as a precious gift and jewel,
bestowed by God, better than all worldly treasures
and possessions. In like manner also true, pious
preachers will seek with all fidelity nothing else
than the advantage and welfare of all people,
without burdening them at all either in their con-
sciences, or even outwardly in temporal affairs or
bodily matters. But let him who despises them
know that he is no Christian, and has again lost
the treasure. We preach to and exhort everybody
who will give heed to and join with us; but those
who will not, and yet with the semblance and
name of the gospel or Christian fellowship despise
us, and will tread us under foot, against these we

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 393

employ the artifice of letting them have the sem-
blance, but in fact taking all back to ourselves, so
that they have nothing at all left. For we are
commanded to separate ourselves from them, al-
though we are not glad to do it, and would rather
that they should remain with us ; but as they will
not, we must let them go, and not on their account
let our treasure perish or be trodden under foot by
them.

V. 7-1 1. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall
find; knock, and it shall be opetied unto you. For every one
that asketh receivcth; and he that seckethfindeth; and to him
■ that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there 0/ you,
whotn if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or
if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being
evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much
more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to
them which ask him?

After the Lord Christ had taught his disciples,
and established the office of the ministry, so that
they might know what they were to preach and
how they were to live, he here adds an exhortation
to prayer; he means hereby to teach that prayer
next to preaching is the principal work of a Chris-
tian, as something always belonging to a sermon;
and to show that nothing is more necessary in Chris-
tendom, (because we have so many temptations
and hindrances,) than that we continue without
ceasing in prayer, that God may give his grace and
Spirit, that the gospel may become efficient and be

394 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

ill constant use by ourselves and others. Therefore
God in tlie prophet Zechariah (as above quoted)
promised that he would pour out upon Christians a
spirit of grace and of supplication; he comprehends
thus in these two things the whole of Christiauity.
Thus he now means to say: I have instructed
you, that you may know how you ought to live
aright and against what you should be on your
guard. Now a necessary part of this is that you
also pray, and confidently persevere with seeking
and knocking, not becoming sluggish or weary in
regard to it. For there will be need of begging,
seekino- and knocking-. For although both doctrine
and practice have rightly begun, yet there will be
no want of faults and offenses, that daily hinder
and obstruct us, so that we cannot advance, and
against which we continually contend with all our
powers, but without any stronger defense than
prayer, so that if we do not use this it is not possi-
ble for us to maintain our ground and remain
Christians; as we can see very plainly now what
kind of hindrances resist the progress of the gospel;
but we see, too, that we are not making much ac-
count of prayer, and taking it for granted that this
warning and exhortation does not apply to us, and
that we do not now need to pray, since the useless
chattering and muttering of rosaries and other
idolatrous little prayers has ceased; which is not a
good sign, and it is to be feared that much misfor-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 395

tune will overtake us that we might have been able
to prevent.

Therefore every Christian should heed this ex-
hortation, first, as a command, just as well as the
previous statement: Judge not, etc., is a command,
and he should know that he is in duty bound to
practice this Christian work, and not to do as that
peasant, who said that he gave his preacher grain,
so that he should pray for him; as some think: Of
what account is my prayer? If I do not pray,
others do ; so that we should not think it does not
concern us, or that it depends upon our choice,
about which I have often more fully treated else-
where.

Secondly, you have here the consolatory promise
and rich assurance which he adds concerning
prayer, that one may see that it is of consequence
to him, and may learn to regard our prayer as dear
and precious before God, since he so earnestly ex-
horts us to engage in it, so kindly invites and
promises that we shall not ask in vain ; and if
we had no other cause or inducement than this
friendly, rich word, this ought to be enough to
drive us to do it. I will be silent as to how earn-
estly he exhorts and commands [us to engage in
it] and how heartily we need it.

Besides, as if this were not enough, as we aside
from this, for own great need's sake, should our-
selves engage in it, he adds a most beautiful com-

396 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

parison (the more to stimulate us) of every father in
reference to liis son, who although he may be a
worthless wretch, yet, if he ask for a fish, he will
not give him a serpent, etc. Hence he infers this
comforting word: If ye can do this, who are not of
a good sort, and have not a vein in you that is good
towards God, how then should not God, your Heav-
enly Father, whose nature is altogether good, not
also give to you what is good if you ask him for
it? This is the very highest appeal wherewith he
ought to or can persuade any one to prayer, if we
only would look at these words and la\' them to
heart.

Now what the need is, for which he gives this
exhortation, and which should urge us to pray, has
been mentioned, so that, if we have the word of
God, and have made a good beginning, both in
doctrine and practice, then there cannot fail to oc-
cur temptation and opposition, not of one kind only
but of thousands of kinds. For, in the first place,
there is our own flesh, the old rotten sack, that is
soon apathetic, inattentive, and disinclined to the
word of God and a good life, so that we are always
lacking in wisdom and the word of God, faith, love,
patience, etc. This is the first enemy that is daily
hanging about our neck so heavily that he is
always dragging us in that direction.

Then comes the other enemy, the world, that
begrudges us the dear word' and faith, and will

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 397

have 110 patience with 11s, however weak we may
be; it falls upon us and condemns us for what we
do, seeks to take from us what we have, so that we
can have no peace with it. These are already two
great temptations that iiiwardly hinder us and out-
wardly seek to drive us off. Therefore we have no
more to do than always to cry to God, that he may
strengthen and further his word in us, and restrain
the persecutors and sectaries, so that it be not
smothered.

The third enemy is now the strongest of all, the
very devil, who has the great double advantage
that we are not good by nature, and besides are
weak in faith and spirit; he gets thus within my
own castle and contends against me; he has in
addition the world to aid him, so that he stirs up
ugly crowds against me, through whom he shoots
his poisonous, fiery darts. iipon me, that he may
weary me, so that the word in me may be again
smothered and extinguished, and he rule again as
he ruled before, and prevent himself from being
driven out. See, these are three misfortunes that
oppress us heavily enough and lie upon our neck,
and will not cease whilst we have life and breath.
Therefore we have constant reason to pray and to
call. Therefore he adds these words: Ask, seek,
knock; to show that we do not yet have everything,
but that we are in such a condition that there is
failure and want everywhere. For if we had it all

398 j.uther's commentary on the

we would not need to beg or seek; if we were even
in heaven already, we would not need to knock.

Now these are the chief temptations in regard to
the serving of God and the keeping of his word.
Next we have the common, temporal need of this
life upon earth ; as that we are to pray that he may
grant us gracious peace, good government, and
protect us from all kinds of trouble, sickness, pesti-
lence, famine, bloodshed, storms, etc. For you have
not }et got beyond the reach of death, nor eaten
lip all 3our daily bread, so that you need not pray
that he may daily give it to you. Also, thus you
have to pray for the secular authority, and against
all kinds of vices, that the people may not rob and
steal so from one another, since you must daily see
that everywhere such shameful conduct abounds.
In addition to all this you have at home your wife,
child and domestics to be governed; there you will
have your hands full. For he who has to observe
and carry out in his whole life both Christian and
civil righteousness, has undertaken more than one
man's work and ability.

What shall we now do? Here we are involved in
such manifold great needs and hindrances that we
cannot escape, if we should violently shut the door
against them. How can I prevent my dying, who
am so lazy and indifferent to the word of God and
all that is good? or prevent the world from keeping
up such a rumpus and racket, and the devil from

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 399

raging? and how prevent there being so mnch
trouble and misfortune? Now the dear Lord Christ
knows this very welh Therefore he means to show
us a precfous, good remedy, as a kind, faithful
physician, and teaches us what we are to do about
this, as though he should say : The world is so
mad, and undertakes to rid itself of this with wis-
dom and reason; seeks so many means and ways,
help and counsel, how it may escape from these
perplexities. But this is the only shortest, surest
way, that you go into a little chamber, or into
a corner, and there open your heart and pour
[out] your desires before God with lamentation and
sighing and assured confidence, that he, as your
faithful, heavenly Father, will help and counsel in
such perplexities; just as we read in Isaiah xxxvii.
about king Hezekiah: When the enemy with a
great army was lying before the city, and he was
so besieged and outnumbered, that no help nor
counsel, to human appearance, was to be hoped for,
in addition to which the enemy most insolently de-
fied him, and mocked at his misfortune, and wrote
him a letter full of blasphemy, so that he well-
nigh despaired; then the pious king did nothing
else than to go up into the temple, lay the letter
before the altar, fall down and heartily pray. Then
he was soon heard and helped.

But then we worry and fret, and have the great-
est trouble to bring ourselves to do it, and we mis-

400 luthkr's commkntarv on the

erably perplex ourselves, making martyrs of our-
selves with our cariu<^ and thinkiufr, trviufr to take
our neck from the yoke and be rid of it. For it is
a bad, cunning- devil that rides me as well as others,
and has often played these tricks upon me, when I
was tempted or worried, whether in spiritual or sec-
ular affairs. He quickly interferes and brings it
about that one wears himself out with his trouble;
thereby he drags us away from prayer and confuses
us to such an extent that one does not think of it,
and before one begins to pray, one has already half
worried himself to death. For he knows very well
what prayer can accomplish, therefore he restrains
and disturbs us as much as he can, so that we do
not have recourse to it at all.

Therefore we ought to learn to take these words
rightly to heart, and accustom ourselves to it, so
soon as any trouble and need appears, only at once
to fall upon our knees and lay the need before God,
according to this exhortation and promise; then we
should be helped, so that we need not worry our-
selves with our own thoughts about seeking help.
For it is a very precious remedy, which assuredly
helps, and never fails, if it be only applied.

But how to pray aright has been shown above
and elsewhere sufficiently. For here we are speak-
ing only of the power of prayer and of what should
urge us to it. The most important thing is that
you only at first look at the word of God that may

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 401

instruct you what you are heartily to believe, so
that you are sure of this, that your faith, gospel and
Christ are right, and that your calling is pleasing
to God; then you will soon see the devil against
you, and feel that there is lacking everywhere, in-
ternally in faith and externally in your calling,
that everything threatens to go wrong, and temp-
tations are swarming on every hand: if you feel
this, then be wise and prevail upon your heart to
begin at once to pray and say: Dear Lord, I surely
have thy word, and am in the calling that pleases
thee, that I know. Now thou seest how much I
need everywhere, so that I know of no help except
in tliee ; help thou, therefore, since thou hast com-
manded that we are to pray, seek and knock, and
then we shall certainly receive, find and have what
we desire.

If you will accept it thus and accustom yourself
confidently to pray, and do not receive, then come
and call me a liar. If he does not give at the min-
ute, he will still give you so much that meanwhile
your heart will experience comfort and strength,
till the time that he gives more abundantly than
you would have hoped. For this is also a good
feature of prayer, if one habitually practices it, and
thus meditates upon the word that he has promised,
that the heart becomes continually stronger, and
more firmly confides, and finally obtains much
more than otherwise.
26

402 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

This I could clearly prove by my own example;
and that of other pious people. For I tried it too,
and many people with me, especially at the time
when the devil wanted to devour us, at the Diet at
Augsburg, and everything stood bad enough, and
was in such a turmoil that all the world supposed
things would be turned topsy-turvy, as some had
insolently threatened, and the swords had already
been drawn and the rifles loaded. But God so
helped through our prayers, and opened the way,
that those screamers, with their scratching and
threatening, were completely put to shame, and a
good peace and a gracious year was given to us,
such as had not been for many a day, and such as
we could not have hoped for. If now another
danger and need arises, we will pray again and he
must again help and deliver, although he may let
us meanwhile suffer a little and be oppressed, so
that he may the more strengthen us, and we be
driven the more earnestly to pray. For what sort
of a prayer would it be, if the need were not here
and did not oppress us until we felt it? That one
rightly feels his need helps to make his prayer the
stronger. Therefore let every one learn by no
means to despise his prayer, not doubting that it
will assuredly be heard, and in due time he shall
receive what he desires.

But why Christ uses so many words, that he puts
it in three ways: Ask and it shall be given to you;

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 403

seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened
unto you, when it was enough to use one; it is easy
to see (as has been said,) that he thereby means
the more strongly to exhort us to pray. For he
knows that we are timid, and we are afraid to pre-
sent our n^ed to God, as unworthy, unfit, etc. ; we
feel the need, indeed, but cannot express it; we
think God is so great and we so insignificant, that
we dare not pray, which is also a great hindrance
from the devil that does great harm to prayer.
Therefore he entices us away from that bashfulness
and hesitation, so that we have no doubt at all, but
only draw near confidently and boldly. For al-
though I am unworthy, I am still his creature; and
because he has made me worthy to be his creature,
I am also worthy to take what he has promised to
me and so freely offered. In short, if I am un-
worthy, he and his promise are not unworthy.
Upon this, only venture it promptly and confi-
dently, and lay it with all joy and assurance upon
his bosom. But first of all see to it that you truly
believe in Christ, and are in your right place, that
pleases God, not as the world, that pays no regard
to its place, and is only planning day and night to
practice its vices and scouudrelism.

One might however interpret the three state-
ments in this way, that he repeats the same thing
in other words to indicate perseverance in prayer,
concerning which St. Paul exhorts in the twelfth

404 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

of Romans: Continue instant in prayer; as tliou.q;h
he said: It is not enough to beg-in and give a sifjli,
and say the prayer and then go your way: but,
just as the need is, so should the prayer be. For
it does not once take hold of you and then go
away, but it hangs o-n and falls about your neck
again, and will not let go. Do the same also, so
that you always pray, and besides seek and knock,
and do not let go; just as the example of the
widow teaches in Luke eighteen, who would not
let go of her judge, with persevering entreaty, and
so pertinaciously that he was overpowered, and
had to help her ungraciously. How nnicli more
(Christ there infers) will God give to us if he sees
that we do not cease praying, but keep on knock-
ing and knocking, so that he must hear; especially
because he has promised it, and shows that he has
pleasure in such perseverance. Therefore, as the
need is always knocking, so do you continue to
knock, and do not cease, because you have his
word; so he will have to say: Well, then go, and
have what you desire. Of this St. James says in
his epistle, that the prayer of the righteous man
availeth much, if it is earnestly pressed, and he
quotes for this the example of Elijah the prophet
from the Scriptures, etc. Thus God also does it
for the reason that he drives you not only simply
to pray but to knock, so that he means to try
whether you can keep a firm hold, and to teach

SKRMON OM THE MOUNT. 405

you that your prayer is not for that reason unpleas-
ant or unanswered, although he delays and lets you
often seek and knock, etc.

V. 12. Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men
should do to you, do ye even so to them : for this is the law and
the prophets.

With these words he now concludes his teaching,
given in these three chapters, and gathers them all
up in a little bundle in which one can find it all,
and every one can put it in his bosom and keep it
well; as if he said: Would you like to know what
I have preached, and what Moses and all the proph-
ets teach you? then I will tell you in a very few
words, and state it so that you dare not complain of
its being too long or hard to keep. For it is such
a sermon that one can stretch out far and wide, and
also make short; and all teaching and preaching
flow out from it and spread themselves, and here
they come together again. How could it be ex-
pressed more briefly and clearly than in these
words? except that the world and our old Adam
prevent us from catching his meaning and contrast-
ing our life with this teaching; we let it go into one
ear and out at the other. Were we always to hold
it in contrast with our living and doing, we would
not live so rudely and be so neglectful, but always
have enough to do, and become our own masters
and teach what we ought to do, so that we would

4o6 LUTHKR'S COMMENTARY ON THE

not need to run after holy living and works, and
would also not need many jurists and lawbooks for
this purpose. For it is briefly stated and easily
learned, if only we were diligent and earnest to do
and live accordingly.

Thus, that we may see it in plain illustrations,
there is surely no one who would like to be robbed,
and if he asks his own heart about it, he must
say that he really would not like that. Why does
he not then conclude that he should not rob an-
other? As, if you see at market that everybody
makes his goods as dear as he chooses, that he wants
to give for thirty pennies what is not worth ten,
and you ask him: My friend, would you like to be
treated that way? then he cannot be so coarse and
unreasonable, but must say: I would buy it at
its market value, and what would be reasonable and
right, so that I be not overreached. See, there is
your heart that tells you truly how you would like
to be treated, and your conscience that concludes
that you should also do thus to others, and it can
properly teach you how you are to deal with your
neighbor in buying and selling and all sorts of deal-
ing; all of which belongs to the seventh command-
ment: Thou shalt not steal.

The same in regard to the other commandments:
If you have a wife, daughter or maid, you would
not like to have her disgraced or badly spoken
about, but you want to have her honored and well

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 407

treated and highly spoken of by everybody. Why
then are you so perverse as to hanker after another
man's wife and yourself put her to shame; or to re-
frain from honoring her when you should do it, and
to find pleasure in traducing and slandering? Also,
you would not like to be injured by any one, or
badly spoken of, or any thing of that kind; why do
you not here yourself keep to the rule and measure
that you demand and will have from others, and
why do you soon judge, blame and condemn
another if he does not do it to you, and yet will not
yourself act according to your own rule? Thus go
through all the commands of the second table, and
you will find that this is the real sum of all the
preaching that we can do; as he himself says here.

Therefore it is well called a short sermon; but
again, if we were to spread it out through all its
applications, it is so far-reaching that there would
be no end to it; for we cannot count up all that
"will be done upon earth till the last day; and he
is a splendid master who can compress and em-
brace in a summary such a long, diffuse sermon,
so that every one can take it home with him, and
daily remind himself of it, as written in his own
heart, yes, in all his living and doing (as we shall
hear further on) and see where he has been want-
ing in his whole life.

And I believe too that its force would be felt and
its fruits realized if we would only accustom our-

408 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

selves to reineiiiber it, and not be so very indolent
and careless. For I do not think that any one
is so coarse, or so wicked, if he would bear this
in mind, that he would still shun it or take offense
at it; and it is surely a wise device that Christ puts
it in such a way that he takes no other illustration
than ourselves, and he applies it in the closest pos-
sible way, laying it upon our heart, body and life,
and all our members, so that no one need go far
after it or spend much trouble or cost upon it; but
he has laid the book in your own bosom, and be-
sides so clear that you need no glasses to under-
stand Moses and the law, so that you are your own
Bible, master, doctor and preacher. He gives you
such directions that you need only to look at them
to find how the book reaches through all your do-
ings, words, thoughts, heart, body and soul. Reg-
ulate yourself only according to that, and you will
be wise and learned enough, above all jurists, art
and books.

So, to take a rough illustration, are you a me-
chanic, you find the Bible lying in your workshop,
in your hand, in your heart, that teaches you and
preaches to you how you are to deal with your
neighbor. Look only at your tool, your needle,
your thimble, your beer-cask, your wares, your
scales, your yard-stick, and you read this motto
written upon them; so that you cannot look in any
direction that it does not stare at you, and no one

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 409

thing is so small, with which you daily have to do,
that does not constantly say this to you, if you will
hear it, and there is no lack of preaching. For
you have just as many preachers as you have deal-
ings, wares, tools and other apparatus in your
house and home. That is always calling to you:
Dear friend, deal with me towards your neighbor
just as you would like you neighbor to deal with
you in his line of business.

See, thus would this teaching be written upon
everything that we look at, and enstamped upon
our whole life, if we only had ears that were will-
ing to hear and eyes that were willing to see; and
it is so richly preached to us that no one can ex-
cuse himself as not knowing it or not having it suf-
ficiently told and preached to him. But we are
like the adders that stop their ears and become
deaf if we attempt to charm them; we will not see
or hear what is written in our own heart and
thoughts, and we rush ahead recklessly: Ha, what
do others concern me! I can do with my own
what I choose, and sell my goods as dear as I can ;
who will hinder me, etc. ? as Squires Skin-flint and
Gag do at market; and if one rebukes and threatens
them by the word of God, they merely laugh and
ridicule and only harden themselves in their wick-
edness. But we do not preach to these, nor does
Christ, and he will have nothing to do with them,
and just as completely despises them as they do
[him], and he will let them go to the devil.

410 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE •

But those that want to be pious, and still fear
God and think how they will live and act, must
know that they are not to deal with and handle
their property as they may wish, as though they
were themselves masters of everything: but they
are bound to do what is right and orderly, for
which reason we have laws of the land and of the
city. For so every one wishes to be dealt with by
his neighbor; therefore he should do likewise, both
taking and giving good wares. This is his seri-
ously meant command, and he will not allow any
liberty or arbitrariness to be made out of it, as if
one could do it or not without sin; and he will in-
sist upon it, however much the world may view it
as an insult and despise it. If you do it not, he
will deal with you according to your own measure,
and it will come home to you, so that you will
have no blessing in what you have gained contrary
to this teaching, but all trouble and sorrow, and
your children after you. For he will have his
command kept, or there shall be no good or suc-
cess enjoyed.

Secondly, it is not only brought so close home
(as now stated) that we must see it in everything
that occurs ; but it is also presented in such a way
that one has to blush at his own conduct. For
there is no one who would like to do a base act so
that other people should see it, and no one is as
ready to sin publicly before the people as if it oc-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 41I

ciirred secretly, so that no one sees it. Thus
Christ means to set us here as witnesses against
ourselves, and to make us afraid of ourselves, so
that if we do wrong our conscience will oppose us
with this command, as a perpetual witness, and
say : See, what are you doing? This you ought
to sell at such a price, according to common
fair usage ; now you are asking too much. Also,
these wares you would not like to take from some
one else, as you are depreciating or misrepresent-
ing them, etc. How you should be vexed if some
one would give you for a gulden what would be
worth hardly ten groschen ? so that, if }'ou have a
drop of honest blood in your body, you ought to
be ashamed of yourself. For if some one else
would do it you would call him a thief and a
scoundrel. Why, then, are you not ashamed of
yourself, as not some one else but you yourself
must thus blame yourself, condemned by your own
conscience? But that is all very well for a hard,
shameless forehead, that feels no disgrace before
the people, before itself, still less before God. But
if another does it to you then you can readily cry
out: Is not this a sin and a shame, and cunningly
stolen from the purse? You can easily see a thief
and scoundrel in another ; but the one who hides
in your own breast, and whom you can easily catch
and feel, him you will not see.

O, how many such fellows there are in all trades

412 LUTHER'S CO.MMEXTARY ON THE

and occupations, that live along securely, deceiving
and cheating the people, wherever they can, and yet
not willing to be counted thieves and scoundrels, if
they only do it secretly and smartly. But if every-
body was to give back what he has stolen and robbed
in his business or trade, few people would retain any-
thing; yet they live along as pious people, because
they cannot be publicly criminated and punished,
and they imagine too that they have not sinned;
and if they look about themselves, every corner of
the house and home is full of thievery, and God is
witness that they do not have a gulden or two in
the house that has not been stolen; and yet all this
must not be called stealing. Yes, if it were only
stealing, and not also murder besides, for with bad,
injurious wares, food or drink, people are made
weak and sick, etc., and not only robbed of their
money, but also of their health, so that many a one
eats and drinks, so that he afterwards must pine
away and often die in consequence of it. My good
friend, is not that just the same as if you were to
break into his house or chest, or to strike him a
deadly wound? — only it goes by a different name.
If you were not so wicked and shameless, \ou
should be ashamed of yourself when your con-
science says this to you, and holds this saying
before you so that you must reflect; yes, it would
make you so fearful that you would not be able to
stay anywhere on account of it. For it is a burden

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 413

that is always oppressing and disturbing, yes is
always condemning, as a perpetual witness against
ourselves, so that it cannot possibly be borne. That
would then soon teach you that you must quit
plundering and stealing, and such things that you
would not like to have done to you by some one
else, etc. Thus accustom yourself then to look a
little at this saying, and practice it upon yourself,
then you will have a daily preacher in your heart,
in whatever way you may be dealing with your
neighbor; thereby you can readily learn to under-
stand every commandment and the whole law, and
to govern and conduct yourself in your intercourse
w'ith others, so that you may well decide accord-
ingly what is right and wrong in the world.

But do you say: How does he say that this is
the law^ and the prophets? The Scriptures of the
law and the prophets contain much more than this.
For the Scriptures have the doctrine of faith and
the promises, of which nothing is said here. An-
swer: Christ names here the law and the prophets
in direct contrast with the gospel or the promise.
For he is not preaching here about the important
article, namely, concerning faith in Christ, but
only of good works. For those are two different
kinds of preaching; we must preach them both,
but each in its proper time and place. That you
see also clearly in the text, in the words where he
says: Whatsoever ye would that men should do to

414 luthkr's commentary on the

yoii, that do ye unto them likewise. Thereby he
shows that his preachings now extends no further
than to the dealings which people have with us
and we with them, and says nothing about the
grace of Christ which we receive from God.
Therefore he now means to say: If one is to preach
about good life and works, which we are to prac-
tice in dealing with our neighbor, then you will
find in all the law and the prophets nothing else
than what .this saying teaches you. Tlierefore he
uses the words: the people, and: that do ye to
them, etc., to indicate that he is speaking only
about the commandments of the second table.

And this is the best in the saying, viz., that he
does not say: Other people shall do it to you; but:
Ye shall do it to other people. For every one
would like others to do good to him, and there are
many scoundrels and bad fellows who would have
no objection to other people being good and doing
good to them; but they will not do it to anybody:
as now our peasants imagine it is wrong and great
oppression that they are to give fair measure ; and
yet they can loudly cry and complain that they are
robbed or are taxed. But these are nothing but
vile reptiles. Some, however, are a little better,
who say: I would take my turn and gladly do what
I ought, if other people would first do it to me.
But this saying puts it in this way: Do thou what
thou wouldst have from another. Thou shalt be-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT.

gin, and be the first, if thou wilt that others shoukl
do it to thee ; or, if they will not, do thou it never-
theless. For if thou wilt not be good, and do
good, before thou seest it in another, nothing will
come of it. If others will not, thou art none the
less obliged to do it, according to the law, and
what is acknowledged to be right, as thou
wouldst be glad to have done to thee. He who
wants to be good must not regard the example of
other people; and it will not do for you to say: He
deceived me, and I must befoul him again; but
because you do not like it, do not do it to him, and
begin with that which you wish to be done to you.
Thus you may then influence other people through
your example, so that they will do good again to
you, even those who before did you harm. But if
you do not do it yourself, you have as )our reward
that no one does good to you ; and you are served
right, before God and the people.

V. 13, 14. Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the
gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destriiclion, and
many there be which go in thereat : because strait is the gate,
and narroiv is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there
be that find it.

He has now ended his sermon, our dear Lord,
and finally concludes the same sermon with several
warnings to equip us aganist all kinds of hin-
drances and vexations, both in doctrine and life,
that we meet with in the world. For of a truth

LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

die teaching has been beantiful and precious, at
the same time widely spread out and also briefly
enough condensed, in a single word, so that it can
readily be told and understood; but then comes
the trouble and the labor to put it in practice; and
it is indeed a difficult and hard life to be a Chris-
tian or pious, for that will not be sweet for us; as
that good girl said: Much belongs to honor; yes,
indeed, and still much more to a Christian life.
This is what our dear Lord is here thinking of,
that it may seem desirable and occur to them: I
would indeed like to live in that way; but a great
deal is required for that. Yes, I say that too (says
he), therefore I warn )-ou, be careful, and do not
mind if it is a little sour and difficult; for it cannot
be otherwise in the world.

This a Christian must know, and he must be
prepared for it, so that he does not allow himself
to be hindered or vexed, if the whole world lives
otherwise, and he must by no means adapt him-
self to the course of the great mass, as IMoses also
prohibited already in the twenty-third of Exodus:
Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil, etc.,
as though he should say: Offenses you will always
find existing in the world; as also Christ here says:
The way to destruction is broad and very many
are walking upon it; and the gate is very wide, so
that crowds pass through it.

That is the great offense that startles a grreat

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 417

mai:y people, and causes them to apostatize, yes,
it has greatly perplexed the prophets and the holy
people; as David in the Psalms often laments,
especially in Psalm Ixxiii. at length: I was envi-
ous at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of
the wicked. For there are no bands in their
death, but their strength is firm. They are not in
trouble as other men; neither are they plagued
like other men. In short, they are fortunate upon
earth (says he) and become rich, have house and
home full, live in luxury and do jnst what they
please. But what do I do, on the other hand? I
must be pious and suffer, and am plagued daily
and chastened every morning, that is, if I slightly
transgress, he is quickly behind me with the rod.
That is what I get for it. There everything is in
honor and joy; therefore all the world falls in with
them, everybody praises and congratulates. As we
saw under the papacy; if any one only put on a
priest's robe, him all the world had to praise and
honor; everybody contributed to this, and she was
a happy mother who bore him. And it is just the
same now: He who only is an enemy to us is held
in high honor and esteem among them, let him live
as he may. That was a great cross to the dear
fathers, that they had to see this success and wick-
edness in the world, so that every one highly re-
garded it and ran after it, and they were to be
pious and have nothing with it but misfortune,
27

4l8. LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

and suffer contempt and persecution from every-
body.

Christ wishes to show this also, and to warn his
own that every one should so live in the world as if
he were alone, and regard his word and preaching
as the very greatest thing upon earth, so that he
would think thus: Although I see that my neighbor
and the whole city, yes the whole world lives differ-
ently, and all that are great, noble, rich, princes and
lords, side with it; yet I have an associate who is
greater than they all, namely Christ and his word.
Therefore, though I am alone, I am yet not alone.
For, because I have the word of God, I have Christ
with me, together with all the dear angels and all
the saints from the beginning of the world; so that
really there is a greater crowd and more glorious
; procession about me than there could now be in the
whole world; only, that it is not visible to mortal
, eye, and I must see and bear the vexation that so
' many people fall away from me, or live and act in
hostility to me.

You must firmly hold on to this, if you expect to
endure; otherwise this vexation will carry you
away, if you are influenced by how other people live
and believe. For the Turks hence conclude, as
their strongest argument [against us]: Do you sup-
pose that God is so cruel as to condemn a great
world? In like manner also the papists: Yes, do
you think that what you bring forth from your cor-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 419

ner is the only right thiing, and that the whole
world is damned? Should so many popes, bishops,
holy fathers, kings and princes altogether have
erred, etc. ? They insist so doggedly upon this
that no man can tear them away from it, and they
conclude most assuredly that our doctrine is not
rioht: and their only argument is: There are manv
of us, there are few of them; we are pious, learned,
wise, God's people, occupy the apostles' seat, etc.,
therefore we cannot be in error. Christ has surely
not forsaken his church nor God his people. It is
not possible, that God will damn so many people
for the sake of a few; for he has not created heaven
in vain.

But against all this Christ teaches thus: Only
out with your eyes, or turn them the other way, so
that you don't by any means look at the great
crowd, but only at God's word; and be assured that
it cannot be otherwise than that the way to de-
struction is broad, and the gate wide, and many
going upon it; and again, the gate to life is nar-
row and the way strait, and very few going
upon it. Therefore it is of no avail that the Turk
and pope boast about those of their faith: We are
many and have long, believed as we do; therefore,
it must be right. For Christ bluntly asserts the
contrary, and he calls that the way to destruction
that is broad and well travelled, and warns that ve
should not be worried because there are so few of

420 luthkr's commentary on the

us and the other crowd is so large. But it is very
hard to digest this little mouthful, if one rigluh-
feels it, so that I have myself often choked at it,
and thouglil: We are such a little, poor company,
despised and damned by all that is high and great
upon earth; ought we then to 1:>e boastful and de-
fiant against all the world, to assert that our side
alone is right, and to decide in regard to all of
them that pope, bishop, and all that adhere to
them, belong to the devil ? Yet we must get over
this, and conclude : I know that my cause is right,
though the whole world should talk otherwise.

How must the dear virgin Mary have felt when
the angel came and brought her the message that
she was to be mother of the Highest? Who then
was about her that believed this, or stood by her?
Ought she to have taken it into the account that
there were the daughters of so many rich, noble,
great lords and princes there, and should God not
have known how to find any other one for this high
duty, to which no virgin had ever been called but
herself, a poor, unknown, despised maiden? Also,
how did the patriarch Abraham act, when he had
to go forth from Chaldaea, and travel alone, as if
he alone were a Christian and all the world con-
demned? But he had to give" himself no concern
about that, nor look around upon others, but had
to speak thus: " How God manages with the whole
world, I will let him see to that; but I will stick

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 421

to liis word and follow that, although I see all the
world going differently;" as also Mary must have
thought: "What God will do with others, that I
will let him care for ; but I will abide b\' the word
that I hear, and that tells me what he will do to
me." So we must also conclude: I see that the
pope, bishops, princes, sectaries, civilians, and
peasants, do as they please, despise and ridicule us
with the greatest assurance, so tliat I might sa\- :
Do you then think that you alone are right against
all of them? But go along pope, princes, learned
men, and all the world; I know that the doctrine
is right, and that it is the word of God : I will
abide by that, whatever may happen.

Thus Christ now means to say: I have given
you this instruction, so that you may see how ex-
tremely few people agree with you, and how many
will teach and live to the contrary, so that it will
greatly perplex you; but be firm^ and do not let it
worry you, and know that it cannot be otherwise,
and remember that I told you beforehand that the
gate to life is strait and the way narrow; but the
other broad and wide, etc. Therefore pay no at-
tention to that, but hear what I say to you, and
follow me. For I, with all the saints, have taken
the narrow way; you must take it too, if you would
come to me; let the others go their wide way.
For you will see how narrow the pit will be into
which they will have to go; on the other hand ye.

422 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

who now must go by the narrow way through the
strait gate, will come into a beautiful space, as
large and wide as heaven and earth.

Now, what makes then the way so narrow and
small? • No one does but the very devil, the world
and just our own flesh, which is lazy, resists and
refuses, and will not move forward, to trust God
and rely upon his word, cannot bear the world's
contempt, poverty, perils, etc. In short, it likes
also to travel the broad road, therefore it makes
this path for us sour and difficult.

Then comes the world, that persecutes us, hangs,
murders, burns and drowns, because we will not go
with it in the broad way; and if it can do no worse
it slanders and abuses us most poisonously, drives
us out with sword, fire, and water: so that it is a
hard battle, to stand there and fight against our
own flesh, so that one may trust God, love his
neighbor, live chastely, and abide in his lot; and if
we do all this in a hard struggle, then the world
must come too with its persecuting and reviling
us as the worst criminals upon earth, just to make
our life hard.

Along with this comes the devil himself and tor-
ments the heart with evil thoughts, unbelief, fear,
dread, despair, makes out of our good deeds sin and
shame, and yet we have to remain among these
enemies and exposed to their assaults. Under
these circumstances one may be vexed and tempted

SERMON ON THE MOUNT, 423

to apostatize and say: I see indeed that those have
rest and a good time, pass their days in qniet
peace, and have the same glory and honor of be-
ing the true servants of God: why shall I then alone
suffer myself to be so wretchedly persecuted, vexed
and abused ? Where they all stay, there will I
stay too.

The ancients have admirably depicted this in the
legend of the Knight Tondalo (except that they
did not rightly apply it, and interpreted it of
purgatory or the punishment of souls after this
life,) how he had to pass over a small bridge that
was scarcely as broad as a hand, with a burden on
his back, and under him a sulphurous pool full
of dragons, and besides there was one coming
towards him to whom he had to give place. That
coincides well with this statement. For a Chris-
tian leads a life as hard as if he were walking upon
a narrow path, yes, upon nothing but razors; thus
the devil is beneath us in the world, he is inces-
santly snapping at us with his jaws, that he may
drive us into impatience, despair and murmuring
against God ; besides the world opposes us and it
neither will yield to us nor let us pass by, and our
flesh hangs about our neck; so that we are crowded
on every side, and the way in itself is so narrow,
that of itself there would be trouble enough even
if there were no danger or hindrance in the way:
yet we must go through or fall into the hands of
the world and the devil.

424 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

Therefore reflect and act accordingly: if yon will
be a Christian, let it be so. For things will re-
main as they are: you will not make the way any
broader, and must observe that a few go here, and
the great crowd there. But let this be your com-
fort, first, that God is with you; then, that after
you have gotten through you will come into a
beautiful, wide place. For if you only adhere to
the word and act according to it, not according to
sight, then he is assuredly with you, and so effect-
ively that your spirit will overcome the flesh, the
world and the devil, so that he can accomplish
nothing through }'our flesh, nor through the world,
nor of himself For the word upon which )-ou
rely through faith is too strong for him, although
it appears ■ little and we do not see it. But he
knows very well what it can do, as he has often
tested it and felt what a force and power it is, if
one believes in it. Therefore the prophet so con-
fidently boasts in Psalm cxviii: "The Lord is on
my side: I will.not fear: what can man do unto me ?
They compassed me about like bees; they are
quenched as the fire of thorns; for in the name of
the Lord I will destroy them. Thou hast thrust
sore at me that I might fall: but the Lord helped
me," etc. See, he too has nothing else than the
word and faith, that the Lord is with him, whom
he still does not see; but he feels indeed the world
and the flesh that make his way narrow and em-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 425

bitter his life. Yet he remains firm, finds his satis-
faction in the fact that the Lord is with him and •
approves his course, and he is sure that he will be
on the Lord's side and conquer, though all the
world should oppose him.

We must also avail ourselves of this consolation,
that we learn to make for ourselves out of the
strait gate and narrow wa}' a wide space, and out
of the little company a great crowd, so that we do
not stare at what we see, but through faith and
the word look at the invisible, namely, that Christ
himself and all the heavenly host are with me, and
have gone the very same way, and in a beautiful
long procession have preceded me to heaven, and
that all Christendom till the last day are still trav-
eling the same road. For where he goes and stays,
there they must all go and stay. Thus our way be-
comes light and easy, so that we confidently pass
through; as Christ also invites thither and says:
Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy-
laden, I will give you rest; for my yoke is easy and
my burden is light; as if he meant to say: Do not
be grieved by what I lay upon you in the world.
For it is a yoke and a burden to the flesh, and is
called a narrow way and a strait gate; but only
adhere to me and I will make it very easy and
pleasant for you, and give you so much strength
that you can easily go that way; and not only so,
but you shall also experience that it will become
lovely and sweet for you.

426 Luther's commentary on the

For this is certainly true, if we rightly look at
both sides, that believers have the advantage, so
that they onght not willingly to exchange with the
ungodly. Although these live in luxury and those
must suffer much; yet these trouble and worry
themselves ten times as much as we do, with their
poisonous, restless hatred, and with so many fruit-
less schemes, how they may harm us, and all sorts
of evil practices and tricks, with which they crim-
inate themselves, so that they still have no good
conscience nor a real cheerful hour, and they are
their own devil here upon earth; and yet they do
not accomplish an\-thing more thereby against us,
than to befoul and oppress us somewhat, as much
as God allows them.

But those who believe in Christ do not need
these cares and troubles, and can still have a cheer-
ful heart and conscience. Although we are some-
what distressed, and the devil annoys us: yet he
must again refrain, and we are refreshed by the
word, so that our burden and distress become
sweet and we have only half a torment, outwardly
in the external man; but they are doubly tor-
mented by the devil, they have their hell both
here and there, with perpetual torment and unrest
of conscience, of murder and blood, so that they
cannot have any cheerful, good thoughts toward
God, although outwardly they may have a little
joy and pleasure. So they are rightly served, as

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 427

the Scripture says: Duplici coiitritioiie conteres eos
Domine^ Lord, destroy them with double destruc-
tion.

See, thus the Lord means with all fidelity both
to have us warned and comforted, so that we do not
care if our life is embittered, and we must see and
feel so much vexation in the world, because if we
look at it aright, it is only half-embittered, and
through Christ, on whom we believe, everything in
our heart becomes sweet and conduces to life and
eternal joy. What harms it then, if the old Adam
is somewhat worried about it?

V. 15. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's
clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Hitherto the Lord has been correctly presenting
both doctrine and life, and warning against that
which is contrary to it, and injures or hinders. In
addition to that he now also adds a warning, so
that we beware lest, whilst all is right both in
doctrine and practice, teachers may secretly arise
among us who under the name and semblance of
genuine preachers and of the gospel, may introduce
something else, and pervert and ruin both the doc-
trine and life.

For it cannot be otherwise than that the true,
pure teaching of the gospel must on every hand
be attacked by the devil in all sorts of ways,
both externally and internallyj as Christ taught

428 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

from the beoiniiins: of this sermon: that he who
means to be a Christian must consider this; that
he will have as enemies, first, those who are out-
side of Christendom, who will oppose, hate and
injure him, striking and throttling him, or at least
reviling, cursing and condemning; and it is settled
that he who has no haters, revilers, and perse-
cutors is not a Christian, or at least has not
yet proved his Christianity by outward act and
confession. For, as soon as he makes a profes-
sion, the world becomes his enemy, and if it can
it will surely kill him for it. These are now open
enemies and outside of Christendom, that every
one can see and readily feel.

But in addition to these (Christ means to say
here), you will have another kind of enemies that
are not without and deny the doctrine, but who
grow up among you, bear and boast of your
name — these, first of all, do the great harm. For
the others, though they make a great ado, cannot
do more than take body and goods ; but my heart
and my faith they cannot take from me by vio-
lence. But these are not after body and goods,
but let me keep what I have ; but they cunningly
reach after the doctrine, that they may take the
treasure itself out of my heart, namely, the dear
word, on account of which we suffer persecution
from those enemies. This is indeed a lamentable
business, that those who are called our brethren,

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 429

and profess also the Christian doctrine, set them-
selves up against us and under the same name set
aside the true doctrine and introduce another ; as
St. Paul also warns his Ephesians, and predicts
(Acts XX.): Of your own selves shall men arise,
speaking- perverse things, etc. That is (I say)
especially a lamentable thing that those should do
it who are among us and of us, whom we regard
as upright, and against whom we cannot protect
ourselves until they have begun to do harm.

This is the persecution i'n Christendom that was
predicted throughout the Scriptures, and has
lasted in fact from the beginning of the world.
For so it was with Moses among his people, yes,
Jacob, Isaac and" Abraham in their families, and
Adam, who had only two sons, yet one of them
had to instigate mischief.

And I think we have now had sufiEicient experi-
ence of it ourselves. How many there were who
at first held with us and began [to follow] the gos-
pel against the pope, so that it seemed as though
we would have the whole world with us? But
just when we were about to carry everything be-
fore us, our own people fall to work and do us
more harm than all the princes, kings and emper-
ors could have done. Well, what shall we do
about it? They do us great injury, and besides
strengthen our enemies against us, who cry out,
There one can see what our teachinsf is, since we

430 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

are not a unit among onrselves, and the Holy
Ghost cannot be with us, since we ourselves perse-
cute, abuse and revile one another, etc. We must
endure this, that the enemies be strengthened by
this scandal, and we be weakened and reviled, and
thus have both onr enemies and our brethren
against us, so that in fact there is no greater tribu-
lation in Christendom, in external matters, so far
as our teaching is concerned.

Since now we must always expect this, and can-
not avoid it, Christ gives us along with this ser-
mon both a consolation and a warning. The con-
solation is, that we are not to be alarmed, or to
trouble ourselves to death in regard to this
wretched tribulation, as we see' and feel it, thn.t
we who confess the word of God are not a unit
among ourselves ; but, taught by his word, say
thus in response to it: That I knew very well be-
fore, when I wanted to be a Christian, that it
would be just as my Lord Christ beforehand pre-
dicted, that I must have two kinds of enemies, both
from without and also from within, from my own
dearest friends and brethren. Therefore this shall
not frighten me off and make me apostatize from
the doctrine, as if it were to be wrong for the rea-
son that those set themselves against me who have
been my brethren. Why, Christ himself had
Judas, his betrayer, with him, and what he taught
and did was not false or wrong because his dear-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 43I

est disciple deserted him and did the mischief.
Therefore, we must not mind our Judases.

But the warning is, tliat we should certainly ex-
pect this and diligently take care and be on our
guard that these parties do not deceive us, but we
must arm ourselves against them and learn to
know them. For by his saying: Beware, he means
to teach that we are not to be yielding or impa-
tient, but to open our eyes, be wakeful, cautious
and wise. For against those external enemies we
need nothing more than patience, that we may
suffer what they lay upon us, and be firm ; but here
it avails not to suffer, or yield, but to beware and
see to it that I do not entrust a word even to my
brother in confidence, but look with sharp, wake-
ful eyes only at the word, and trust no man who is
now with me, who to-day can preach with me,
but to-morrow perhaps against me. And no one
should think himself safe, as not needing this ex-
hortation. For it is such a dangerous, subtle
temptation, that even the most spiritually minded
have trouble enough to avoid being deceived by it.
But the rest, that are secure and careless, cannot
at all prevent their being misled. Therefore he
does not without reason add the word: Beware.
For the semblance and name is too attractive, so
that no one can recognize it (as we shall hear) who
does not have the correct understanding of th '
word of God, and besides with all diligence f;!

432 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

heed to it, and lets it be his supreme care to hold
it pure and undiluted.

For see how he depicts them, the false teachers,
according to their appearance and aspect. In the
first place he gives the name, that they are called
and are prophets, that is teachers and preachers ;
and are proud of it that they are not otherwise
called or regarded, have just the same ministerial
office, the same Scriptures, and the same God
whom thev boast of as the others; and yet they are
false prophets. For he is speaking here of those
who preach by virtue of their office. For the
others, who act without official authority, are not
fit to be called false prophets; but tramps and
scamps, that ought to be turned over to the rabble,
and are not to be endured, (even if they do teach
aright,) when they want to interfere with the office
and sphere of others, in violation of established
order; or secretly and thievishly to creep into cor-
ners, where no one unauthorized ought to offer a
sermon of his own, or to insinuate himself, al-
though he may hear and know that the public
preaching is false, as he is not responsible for that.
For God established this office, as others, so that
we are not to act contrary to it; but he who does
not rightly discharge it wull have to answer for
himself, and will surely find his judge.

Secondly, says he, that they come in sheep's
^-ing, so that one cannot blame them, nor out-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 433

warJly distinguisli them from other true preachers.
These two things it is that do harm, that they
hold the true office, and besides come with such
beautiful attire and semblance, that one cannot say
anything else than that they are true, pious
preachers, who seek every one's welfare; as they
charmingly profess, and can swear to it, handling
only the name and word of God. This spreads
very rapidly and hurries the people violently along,
like a flood, so that one cannot resist it. For who
is there among the rabble that can or dare set him-
self against these and rebuke them ? Yes, who
knows how to guard himself against them, since
they come with God's name and word (as they
boast) ?

But Christ herewith warns us against both, so
that we are not to be influenced by the fact that
they hold the office, although this is necessary, and
belongs to a preacher; but no one is thereby as-
sured that he is therefore to believe him, as if he
could not in the office be a scoundrel : as it is not
unusual in the world that there be in all offices
and grades in society many scamps and low fellows
that abuse their position. They may be called
prophets indeed (says Christ); but beware, and see
to it that they are not false prophets. In like
manner, be not misled, if they come in sheep's
clothing with the precious name and semblance.
For here you are told that under that there may be
28

434 LUTHEU'S COMMENTARY ON THE

hidden a ravening wolf. Therefore beware again
that the sheep's clothing do not deceive yon. For
they must all wear that beantiful covering and
semblance if they are to deceive the people.

And this is just the difference between these
secret and the other open enemies. For the latter
rnsli in among us openly, so that every one readily
knows them; but these come among us in the same
office that we have, employ also the same Scriptures
and words for appearance sake; but they come (says
Christ,) of their own accord; that is, although they
have the office, yet they bring the word and doc-
trine that God has not entrusted to them, nor did
he send them for that, but their own dreams and
devil's doctrine, adorned with God's name. There-
fore be especially warned against the sheep's
clothing, so that you trust no one, however great a
show he makes, but look only at the word, whether
he rightly handles that, or under cover of it is sell-
ing his own wares.

See, if we would now accept this warning, and
regulate ourselves according to the words of Christ,
we could easily guard ourselves against all false
prophets and preachers. But that they are so
rapidly multiplying is owing to the fact that we
who hear the true gospel do not earnestly accept it,
do not take care that we truly have and hold it;
move along in such a sleepy, lazy way, as if we
could not go astray. That is the reason why we

SERMON ON THE MOUNT, 435

are deceived by this excellent show and semblance,
before we are aware of it. For as soon as another
new teacher comes and begins, then the word: at-
tendite^ beware, is forgotten, with which we onght
to be eqnipped, and we onght so to hear every one
as though we did not hear him, but were looking
at and attending to the word alone. Those are
trifling, imsettled spirits, that look only into the
preachers' mouths, and suddenly run after them,
through curiosity that makes them eager for novel-
ties, so that they think: O, I heard that one before,
now I must hear this one too, he is a fine, learned,
holy man, etc. There the devil has already gained
a foothold, and ensnared them before they are
aware of it, drives and leads them as he pleases,
from one conspiracy into another; as St. Paul says
of these (Eph. iv. 14) that they are like a reed, tossed
to and fro, and carried about with every wind of
doctrine. If to-day or to-morrow some one else ap-
pears, they rush after and listen to him.

The reason is, they have no certain understand-
ing in their heart of God's word, have little regard
besides for the gospel; think, if they have heard it
once or twice, that they know it and now have it
all: they are soon tired of it, open their eyes and
ears if some one comes that brings something new;
and it happens with them, as with Adam and Eve,
misled by the serpent; who gazed at the forbidden
tree and imagined these beautiful thoughts against

43^ LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

the word of God: Why should we not eat just from
this tree? because thus eager and curious, so that
they became tired of all the other trees iu the whole
of Paradise .i:id gazed only at this one, etc.

But if it were a serious matter with us in regard
to the gospel, and we were carefully living so as to
keep the treasure pure and clean, we would not be
so easily deceived. For I hope indeed that no fac-
tious spirit shall so easily upset me, because I know
that the gospel is true, and I would not like to
lose it. But if some one comes in beautiful sheep's
clothing, I will not look at his mask, as if I
wanted to hear something else or new: but [I ask]
whether he agrees with my gospel. If not, then
thank God, I am thoroughly assured that he is a
false pro]3het and a ravening wolf under his sheep's
clothing.

Thus the devilish spirits have the twofold ad-
vantage, that we are such heedless, secure and
frivolous people, and they can trick themselves out
in the beautiful wool of the sheep. For by sheejD's
clothing he means not bad conduct and gross sin,
as of the heathen and unchristian people ; but the
excellent name and reputation of real Christians,
that have holy baptism, sacrament, Christ, and
ever}'thing that belongs to Christ. They must
bring all this along. For no one must come along
and say: This I say; but thus: Dear friends, this
Christ says, here you have God's word and the

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 437

Scriptures, this you must believe, if you wish to
be saved; he who teaches otherwise deceives you,
etc. ; they make use of the precious name of Christ,
and God, and the awful, grand words: God's
honor, truth, eternal salvation, and whatever other
words like these thereto belonoincr. If now anv
one hears these excellent words, and is so earnestly
exhorted in view of his soul's salvation and de-
struction, he becomes alarmed, and surrenders
himself at once, if he is not well furnished and de-
cided against it. For it cuts like a sharp razor,
and strikes through body and soul. That is a part
of the sheep's clothing.

Besides, they embellish themselves with wonder-
ful works and ways, go about in gray coats, look
morose, and lead a hard, strict life with fasting,
bodily mortifications, hard couches, etc., and do
not live at all like other ordinary people. That
makes again a great impression, and captivates the
people admirably, so that they fall in by crowds ;
and such a villain with a single sermon can mis-
lead a whole city that has had the word of God for
a long while, and make them forget in an hour
what they have heard for ten years; so that even I,
if I wished, would easily undertake in two or three
sermons to preach my people back again into the
papacy, and get up new pilgrimages and masses,
by means of this show and special sanctity. For
the rabble is, as was said, easily thereby persuaded,

43S LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

and at any rate curious and eager to hear what is
new.

See, thus must they embellish themselves, both
in doctrine and practice, so that they employ the
same words that we hear, and along with this lead
a beautiful attractive life; as now our anabaptist
sectaries, in fact, mislead many people by crying
out that we do not have the re;al gospel, because
one may see that it yields no fruit, and the people
continue to be bad, proud, avaricious, etc.; that
there must be something more than the mere
word and letter: the Spirit must do it, and they
must honestly strive to live better; if it were the
word of God it would surely also produce fruit.
Then they go on and say they have the true under-
standing, and the right fruits and life. If a simple,
inexperienced man hears this, he says: O, that is
really so! lets himself thus be carried away by the
taking words: Spirit, and fruits of the Spirit.
Then they go further, and say: He who wants to be
a Christian must not share in civil authority, or
bear a sword, or have anything of his own, as it is
with us; but he is a true Christian who proves it
by his works, forsakes everything, does not accept
any secular authority and rule; dresses in a gray
coat; suffers hunger and sorrow, etc. These they
call fruits of the Spirit. See, these are nothing
but sheep's clothing; with these they carry away
crowds of the poor people.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 439

Who can now recognize the wolf under this and
guard against him? Answer: I know no other
counsel than, as I have said, that every one first
see to it that he is sure of his case and of the doc-
trine, and have so settled it in his heart that he
can adhere to the doctrine, although he see every-
body upon earth teaching and living otherwise.
For he who wishes to get along safely must abso-
lutely not look at any outward marks in Christen-
dom and shape his course after them, but must
look alone to the word that shows the true way of
living that avails before God. As, for example,
the principal topic and sum of the Christian doc-
trine is this, that God has sent and given his Son,
Christ, and alone through him forgives us all our
sins, justifies and saves us. That you are to cling
to, and nothing else. Then, if you look about
you, you will see a great variety of dissimilar per-
sonalities and modes of living, that one is a man,
woman, master, servant, prince, subject, rich, poor,
representing the various callings or offices that are
in the world, and all so mixed up together that I
can see nothing that has a peculiar appearance
[about any of them]. But as I am so settled in
mind, and know that main topic in which I have
the whole summed up, my heart concludes thus :
Suppose I see a husband or a girl, master or ser-
vant, learned man or layman, clothed in gray or
red, fasting or eating, looking grave or laughing;

440 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

what have I to do with that? In short, what that
dijHerence is that I see [in them], that is all the
same to nie. For I understand this, that a maid
in a red dress, or a prince in his golden garment,
can be just as good a Christian as a beggar in a
gray coat or a monk in a woolen or hair shirt, and
I am with such an understanding^ safe aQainst all
sorts of external masks.

But he who does not hold this main truth, or know
how to regulate everything by it, cannot avoid
being deceived by these masks, when he sees one
happy with his wife and children, or splendidly and
richly dressed, etc., and another looking demure,
fasting much, barefoot, and in a gray cowl, and he
concludes at once: O, that is a holy man! the others
are of no account; and keeps gaping thus after the
masks, out of humor; is not smart enough to say:
Can there be a r©gue lying hidden under the gray
coat? as a Christian can conclude and say: Dear
monk, if you wear your gray coat not of necessity,
•but with the peculiar notion that you will be re-
garded by others as something peculiar, then you
are a desperate, double scoundrel, making the
people gape by your pretended sanctity; otherwise
you would have to say: If a farmer, who is plongh-
ing or manuring upon liis field is just as good a
Christian as I, and will get to heaven, what do I
want with my peculiar way of living?

But, as I have said, the great common mass

SERMON ON THK MOUNT. 441

hankers after these masks that fill their eyes and
make a special show, so that it amounts to nothings
if one preaches long against them. And we are
besides naturally inclined to this doctrine and
works. For it is well pleasing to reason, which
always likes to deal with God with its own works.
Thus it happens that the devil through these
teachers prompts and agitates until he has quite
persuaded us.

But we who want to go safely must before any-
thing else see to it, as I have always taught, that we
are firmly rooted in our main point, concerning
Christ; then we can correctly judge concerning all
outward masks and styles, and the Spirit will duly
teach and lead us. Thus every one will find enou"h
real good works to do in his calling, if he wants to
be pious, so that he need not seek for anything
special.

For, are you a prince, judge, husband, servant,
maid, etc., and are you to practice and prove your
faith, to fill your place and calling properly, and do
what is right: then you will surely get so much to
do and to work, that no Carthusian will have a
harder order to work for than you. For what sort
of great trouble and hard work is that, for him to
wear a gray coat or hood, or walk in wooden shoes,
or mortify his body a little, if he be somewhat
strict, and yet along with that live without care and
worry, and have enough to gormandize and guzzle?

442 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

But this one must eat his daily bread in the sweat
of his face and with hard work, and must let not
alone his body but rather his heart be plagued by
the wicked world and his neighbors, and expect and
endure all misfortune, discord and affliction; so that
a true citizen's calling, conducted in a Christian
way, is more than a ten-fold Carthusian order; ex-
cept that it does not make a show, like the monk,
who wears a hood, is separated from the people,
etc., and yet, if we open our eyes and rightly com-
pare the two, even reason must come to the same
conclusion. Thus also a prince, although he wears
golden chains and a cloak of marten fur, but is
pious, yet he is under the marten cloak such a
plagued and miserable man, that you cannot find
his like in any monastery. Thus go through all
offices and callings. If you find a pious man or
woman, you need not look there for a monk or a
nun; for he or she is already monk or nun enough,
and is living in a harder order than all the hood
and tonsure wearers; yes, it is all tomfoolery before
God with all the monks and hermits, in contrast
with a pious child, servant or maid, who is
obedient to duty. Only do what a pious man or
woman ought to do, there you have a rule that is
harder to follow than the rules, hoods and tonsures
of St. Francis and of all the monks, which cover
rather a scoundrel than a pious Christian,

But proud reason will not look at this, but disre-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 443

gards it and thinks: O that is a common afifair, that
every one may have at home! gapes after some-
thing else that is strange and odd, looks in wonder,
follows the continual bawling; which is all a mere
false show, with which they come along and so
dress up their trifling way of living as to put con-
tempt upon all else that are God's ordinances and
callings, as if they were of no account. But it is
all owing to this, that we do not take hold of the
word of God with real earnestness, or we would
soon say: Let the Carthusians come on, and the
Anabaptists, the devil himself or his mother, they
could not make better callings or ways of living
than God has made.

Therefore we must count every calling as excel-
lent, high, divine, whether it be that of a pious
husband, servant, maid or faithful laborer, and
could thus rightly judge according to the word
about all works and callings, and every one could
rightly teach and live, and everything would move
along splendidly. Those would be the right call-
ings which God has ordered and established, and
which he approves; and if God granted that we
could bring it to pass that a city would have many
of these pious citizens, women, children, masters,
servants and maids, we should have heaven upon
earth, and would need no monasteries, and should
have no need of fasting, or praying and singing all
day long in the churches, but simply of doing
what their various offices and callings require.

444 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

Thus you see what the kinds of sheep's clothing
are with wliich they set the people gaping. But
what are they inside and in fact? Nothing else
(says Christ) than ravening wolves. That is what
they seek, the desperate scamps, that they with a
beautiful show of doctrine and life may ruin and
destroy souls. Not outwardly, as the tyrants and
persecutors, who destroy life and property; also,
not as the preachers, who publicly preach against
us and condemn our doctrine, etc. : but inwardly,
that they secretly tear away the treasure of our
heart, which has now become the throne or king-
dom and dwelling-place of God. That is, all their
scoundrelism that the)" so adorn with doctrine and
life, aims at destroying the faith and the founda-
tion article concerning Christ; as now the Anabap-
tists outwardly bear our name, and indeed ac-
knowledge that we have the gospel, with the word
and preaching ; but there follows (they say) no
fruit. Just with this word : No fruit, they turn
the attention of the people from faith to works,
and they push aside the main thing, which is faith
in Christ, and they lead us away so that we are to
look alone at the fruits ; if these appear, then it is
the true gospel, and vice versa; and their whole
teachins: is nothing- else than that one must do his
utmost and make a display with the fruits, have no
private property, forsake everything, etc. ; fall
back again upon their works, and place their con-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 445

fidence in them, as thereby to be saved. And
what is the worst, they do not teach the true fruits,
which the gospel teaclies and demands after faitli,
but what they dream about and imagine ; say
nothing about how every one is to follow his call-
ing properly and faithfully, and abide in it, but
just the contrary; lead the people away from these
eallings, teach them to forsake them as worldly,
and run away from them, and look at sometliing
that is peculiar; look morose, live severely, stop
eating, drinking, dressing like other people, let
themselves be tortured and killed willingly and
when not required. Else (say they) the gospel
yields no fruit in you, and you are still no Chris-
tian, although you have long been believing, etc.
And these their dreams they adorn with the
Scriptures and quotations from the gospel, though
Christ never taught or required this, neither by
word nor example, that we are to run away from
the community, forsake every thiug, have nothing
of our own, except when it becomes necessary that
we must either do this or give up his word.
Therefore you must not forsake these things before
he orders you, or you are forced to do it. If it
comes to that, then say: Before I will forsake
Christ and the gospel, rather may go wife, child,
body and goods, sun, moon, and all creatures. But
apart from necessity you have God's command,
that you are to love your neighbor, serve and help

446 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

him with body and goods, in like manner to love
and rule yonr wife, child, domestics, not rnn off
from them and desert them, as these [fanatics] do,
against the word and ordinance of God, altogether
withont necessity, and yet they want to boast of
the great frnits of the gospel, as special saints.

Learn thus to. recognize these spirits, as they
under the sheep's clothing inwardly raven, and
take away the faith, lead you from Christ back
upon yourself, and call this fruits of the gospel,
which they themselves imagine, by which they de-
stroy the real fruits. That is what these ravening
wolves are in sheep's clothing that have always
been injuring Christianity. Hitherto they have
been called monks; now tliey are Anabaptists, as a
new sort of monks; in old times they were Pelagi-
ans, Ishmselites, Esauites, Canaanites. For tliis
faith has continued since the beginning of tlie
world; and although these Anabaptists may get out
of the way, others will certainly come.

In short, monkery will endure as long as the
world stands, although with other new names and
methods. For all that go about getting up some-
thing peculiar, beyond faith and ordinary callings,
these are and remain monks, although they do not
use the same kind of style, clothing or methods.
It is true we can easily be on our guard against
these that go about with hood and tonsure; for
they are now sufficiently marked, so that every one

SKRMON ON THE MOUNT. 447

knows them. But beware of the new monks, that
do not wear hoods, but yet start some other odd
notions, pretend great devotion and sanctity, with
demure looks, gray coats, and a strict mode of liv-
ing; they say, one must not wear satin or silk, red
or variegated clothes, just as those monks also
taught, so that still it is monkery all the same,
only with a diflferent mask. Therefore, the artists
have hit it exactly, when they paint the devil in a
monk's hood with his devil's claws sticking out
below. For he has been doing nothinor else from
the beginning of the world than to mislead the
world by monkery.

V. 16-20. Ye shall knozv them by their fruits. Do men
gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every
good tree bringeth forth good fruit ; but a corrupt tree bring-
eth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil
fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down
and cast into the fire, Wherefo7-e by their fruits ye shall
know them.

Since the Lord Christ has warned his followers
to hold firmly to his doctrine, and to beware of
their being misled by others who under sheep's
clothing are ravening wolves: he now instructs
them also, as an additional warning, how they are
to recognize them by their fruits, and he uses an
illustration in plain, simple words that even a
child can understand. For no one is so simple

448 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

as nol to know that a thorn-bush bears no figs
or grapes, etc. But however simple the words
are, yet no one sees how much they mean unless
he diligently considers the word of God. But it
all depends upon this, that we understand what he
means by a good or bad tree or fruit. For it is
easily said: This is a fig-tree or a thistle, a good
apple or a f^our wild plum, and with the eyes and
reason it can be easily seen and understood; but as
Christ here uses it, there is uo other way to ex-
plain it except by spiritual comprehension, accord-
inof to God's word. For we heard above how these
same false teachers employ such semblances and
smooth words, that reason cannot judge them, or
guard itself against them. Yes, it is just that
kind of doctrine and life that grows out of reason
and suits it, and is naturally pleasing to u>, be-
cause it teaches about our own doing and working,
which we understand and can do.

By a good tree that brings forth good fruit is
meant, in short, one who lives and conducts his
walk and conversation according to the word of God,
pure and simple. For he means to tell hereafter
also of many who have heard the word of God, and
also say: Lord, Lord, and besides have done many
wonderful works, and yet are false and hypocritical.
Therefore we must here completely silei ce reason
and follow the word of God alone, and then infer,
if we wish to judge about life and works, that we

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 449

may know what God's word calls a good tree or
good fruits. For this is too much for reason, (as I
said,) if it sees a man who wears nothing but a gray
coat, fasts every week, as the Pharisee in the gos-
pel, yes who also does wonderful works and
miracles, that he should not be a good tree with
good fruits. For it cannot look any higher, or
think and understand any better, is badly caught
by it, so that it concludes he who leads a different
life from other people, he must be a peculiar, holy
man; she sees not, the blind fool, that these works
are all still far, far from the word of God.

And if you now ask: Whence do you know that
these works are so precious as you make them out
to be? it can give no other answer than: I think so.
There, go to the dogs with your thinking, if I am
to trust my soul's salvation upon it. The rule is:
you must know, and not imagine or think, and you
must have a sure basis and evidence from the word
of God, so that he is satisfied, and you can say:
The work is well done, the calling is well pleasing
to God, that I know; not according to my own
light or star, so that it appears good or evil to me;
but that is decided by the word and command of
God. It does not seem to me that a husband, or
wife, or prince, or judge is as holy as one who creeps
into corners or goes into the wilderness: but it does
not avail to decide according to my thinking; and
although some one should exorcise devils and do
29

450 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

all the miracles that the apostles did, I would rather
be servant to a shoemaker or a dishwasher accord-
ing to God's word, and I will consider this calling
superior to your thinking, even if you could raise
the dead. Therefore adhere to it that bringinc:
forth good fruits means that kind of life and good
works that are in the line of God's word and com-
mand.

Thus these words — by their fruits ye shall know
them — are given as a token and set as a sign
whereby they can be judged and recognized. If
we are deceived, it is no one's fault but our own.
For he has not left us in doubt, but has drawn the
picture clear and distinct. If you cannot judge
them (says he,) because of their sheep's clothing,
then observe their fruits and works, whether these
are upright and good.

Yes, (you say,) how am I to recognize these?
they too may themselves be deceptive. Answer:
You surely know what God's commands are; then
see whether they agree with them. For I will as-
suredly warrant you that no captious spirit will
come without making it perfectly sure and leaving
a stench behind him that one may sec tliat the devil
has been there; and there has never yet a false doc-
trine or heresy made its appearance without bring-
ing the characteristic mark along with it which he
here indicates, that it has proposed otlier works
than those which God has commanded and

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 45I

ordained. That now the world is misled is owing
entirely to its following wild reason and neglecting
the word of God, paying no attention to what he
commands and gaping after the pretenders, if it
only sees something odd.

He who wishes to judge rightly here, let him do
as Christ teaches, and set before himself their works
and fruits, and contrast them with the word or
command of God, and he will soon see how these
coincide. Look at the very holiest Carthusian
monk with his strict order, and St. Paul on the
other hand with the ten commandments, and you
will see that St. Paul preaches in this style: If you
have Christ through faith, then let every one be
obedient and subject to the authorities, and exer-
cise love toward one another in all callings. See,
there you have a true mirror of a Christian life, ac-
cording to God's command and ordinance. In con-
trast with this comes that factious spirit and says:
O that is of no account! There are many bad
people in the [different] callings, and it is all a
worldly matter, etc. ; ah, we must seek something
better. So he goes along and makes something
peculiar and odd, comes parading along in a hood
or a gray coat; that must now be a grand life and a
perfect calling.

But if you are firmly rooted in God's word, you
can soon judge and say: Where has God com-
manded you to get special callings and works in

452 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

opposition to the coniinon callings that he has or-
dained? I know very well that there are many bad
fellows and pious people in all callings; but what
concern is ii;at of mine how they abuse them? I
will still abide by the word that teaches me that
such callings are good, although there are bad
people in them. That is what I look at and regu-
late myself by; and because the calling is good, the
works and fruits, performed according to the word
of God, just as the calling demands, must also be
ricrht and oood. Bnt because vour calling has no
word of God for it, the works, done in the calling,
cannot be good, and both tree and fruit are rotten
and of no use.

Thus you have a sure judgment, that cannot de-
ceive }on, as Christ teaches you, to know them by
their fruits. For I have also read about all the
heretics and fanatics, and have found that they one
and all every time put forth something different
from what God had ordered and commanded, one
on this subject and another on that. One forbade
to eat all kinds of food; another marriage; the third
denounced the civil authority; and each one took
up something peculiar to himself, so that they all
must walk in this track.

Therefore it lies (as I have said), entirely in this,
that one properly knows and holds the definition,
what Christ calls good works or fruits, namely,
that a o-ood work is that which is ordered or com-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 453

manded by the word of God and is covered by that
coinmaud. As a married woman who is pious and
deports herself rightly can say this and boast that
her calling is commanded by God and has the
right, pure, unadulterated word of God, and
heartily pleases God. Therefore her works are all
good fruits ; so that one is to judge and decide a
thing to be sfood not because we think so, but be-
cause God says so and pronounces it good. Ad-
here to this, and you cannot go astray as they must
do. For the judgment stands, that they cannot
teach any proper fruits. God also thinks the same
way about this, so that they must preach nothing
else than about jDurely invented juggleries; and,
because they despise real fruits and works, as not
having any special show about them, he too de-
spises their foul works that they put forth with
great show, and presume to do things better than
he has done.

It is a proverb, invented by the priests, and I
think the devil himself mocked them with it:
When our lyord God made a priest the devil was
looking on, and wanted to imitate him, and he
made the tonsure too broad and it turned out a
monk; therefore they are the devil's creatures.
That is said by way of a joke, but it is nevertheless
the pure truth. For where the devil sees that God
orders obedience and love to one another, and con-
stitutes an excellent, spiritual little assemblage, he

454 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

cannot refrain from building his chapel or beer-
shop alongside of the church, and also afterwards
teaching his nionker\-, poverty, gray coats, etc., so
that always the monks are the devil's priests; for
they preach the doctrine'of devils (as Paul also calls
it) wrought out of their own imaginings, and they
claim to be wiser than God and to do his work
better than he does.

Therefore Christ now means to say: If you wish
to know and judge them, keep to the pure word of
God, that you may be sure what the right fruits
are and see how they accord with them: thus you
will surely find that they teach and practice other-
wise than as God has commanded; from that you
can certainly also test the tree, that it is not good;
and they consider this a coarse, childish comparison.
Can one gather grapes from thorns or figs from
thistles? Yes, very well, (they think) should not
we be able to do that? Why one may gather pure
sugar from them. For these works are by far more
valuable, according to their notion, than those God
has ordered. But look at the two kinds of trees,
the vine or fig-tree, and in contrast the thorn-bush
or thistle. Thistles and thorns may also bloom,
but what kind of fruit do they produce? But the
fig-tree, however, is such a simple tree, makes no
boast of its fruits or leaves, puts forth no leaves be-
fore the fruit is at hand, but before you are aware
it produces fruit. So also the vine, it is more com-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 455

pletely destitute of show and glory than any other
tree, a mere thin, weak wood; yet it bears the
very sweetest grapes, better than any other growth,
whilst other trees plume themselves upon their
leaves and flowers, so that one should think that
they would yield pure sugar; and yet they produce
nothing- but these sour fruits that are of no use.
Thus also here these have the show and make a
racket with their boasting of special works as if
they alone were doing it: and when the bloom is
over, there are nothing but medlars that are quite
full of stones, neither nourishing nor feeding any-
body, or thistle heads that only prick or scratch if
one takes hold of them. For if one contrasts with
them the command of God, whether God has com-
manded and ordered these works, and whether
they have been done for the service and benefit of a
neighbor, it is seen that they are of no account and
only hinder the real good works. Again, as to the
other callings, they make no show, do not shine
and glitter, and yet they yield the very finest, best
fruits, and cause the greatest benefit upon earth,
but [they do this] before God, and before those who
are enlightened through spiritual eyes, so that they
can rightly look at and judge the matter.

Therefore he now speaks thus: Can one also
gather figs from thorns? As if he would say: It
may bloom beautifully, but wait a little, and see
when the time comes to gather the fruit what you

456 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

will find tlien. For nothing more will come of it
than that people are thereby deceived that have
been waiting for large, valuable fruit, and yet find
nothing which they or others can comfort them-
selves with or enjoy; besides the harm is done, that
even the very highest reason is deceived and misled
by this phantom, gotten up by the devil, which has
not God's word and sound understanding, but fol-
lows its own notion and devotion and supposes if
this pleases it, this must also please God; but it
should be turned the other way, so that I am glad
to hear what pleases him, although there are vex-
atious things in all God's callings, and besides there
are many bad people in them that injure these
fruits, just like miserable worms.

And this comparison he concludes with a com-
mon saying which he was fond of using elsewhere:
Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and an
evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit. But what is the
need of teaching this in so many words? Who
does not know this already? Why a blind man
could tell it by the bush; and he thinks us such
fools that we don't know this? Well, he who
knows it, let him know it; but we are willing to
learn it and remain Christ's scholars. For, as was
said, it is not such an easy art to decide in regard
to this doing, of which Christ is speaking. But
this saying serves to comfort and strengthen such
as are in those callincjs that reason does not con-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 457

sider desirable or respectable, so that there is much
vexation in them and much evil is done in them,
by which many people are startled, so that they are
considered dangerous, as if one could not easily
serve God in them, etc. ; with this St. Augustine
worried and plagued himself greatly, even when he
was already a great doctor, so that he would have
been glad to see everything right, and to separate
from the callings what was bad, and the Pelagian
heretics made him a great deal of trouble with this
matter: as nearly all the heretics have aimed at
making things perfectly pure, and, (pardon the ex-
pression) have totally befouled them.

But why need we go far to find it? It is here
admirably put, and in a few words: The calling
that God has created and ordained, and the man
who moves and lives in this calling according to
the word of God, he can produce nothing but good
fruits. With that you can now console your heart
against these thoughts: Alas, this or that one has
put me into this calling! There is nothing but
disgust and trouble in it ! This has often assailed
me in regard to my office, and it still does, so that,
if it were not for the word of God, I would long
since have foresworn the preaching of a sermon,
and would have given good-bye to the world; as the
monks used to do. But that is the work of the
devil himself, who makes every one's calling so
burdensome to him, and so blinds proud reason that

458 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

it cannot recognize the office and work that God
assigns to ns and which is heartily pleasing to him,
and thus it ruins its own calling and fruits. For it
would snrely be a good tree and a go6d calling;
but reason does not see it and stands in its own
light, so that it cannot bring forth good fruits.

Therefore learn to look at your calling thus ac-
cording to this saying, so that you may thence con-
clnde: Now I know, thank God, that I am in a
good, happy calling, that pleases God; although it
is vexatious to the flesh, has much trouble and dis-
satisfaction, all that I will cheerfully endure. For
here I have the consolation that Christ says: A
good tree yields good fruit, in all callings compre-
hended in God's word, although they are despised
and depreciated by the world and the special saints.
On the other hand, I hear the decision, that every
evil tree brings forth evil fruit: so that when I see
the holiest Carthusian, I see a worthless, evil tree,
although he makes a fine display and has not so
much worry and opposition. For the devil does
not embitter and burden him as he does, the true,
divine callings. Therefore those callings and works
they are well pleased with.

But just as little as I can see in my calling that
my fruit is good, just so little also can he see that
his calling and fruit is evil and of no value; and
this saying must be inverted among them, and read
thus: An evil tree brings forth good fruit, and a

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 459

good tree brings forth evil fruit; so that, in short,
here reason cannot judge, nor see the goodness of
its calling and its works, or derive joy or pleasure
from them; but it praises the opposite. For, if we
could see it, we should move along in constant joy,
and should suffer and endure everything with a
cheerful heart that God lays upon us, assured that
because the tree is good its fruits must also be good;
so that if a pious farming servant hauls a wagon-
load of manure to the field he is hauling a load of
valuable figs and grapes; but [this he does] in the
sight of God, not in our eyes, who do not believe,
hence every one becomes tired of his calling and
gapes after another.

That is now what Christ means when he con-
cludes so bluntly and directly: A good tree brings
forth good fruit, and the opposite; and, to make it
still stronger, he adds with seeming superfluity, and
says: A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, and
an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit. How,
cannot a servant or a maid be a scoundrel? Cannot
a man or. a woman commit adultery? Cannot a
prince be a tyrant, or a preacher be an impostor?
You have said the same yourself. Where are we
to look for scamps and scoundrels except in the
various trades and callings? Answer; Yes, that is
only too true; but in that case he is no longer a
good tree, for he goes beyond his calling and lives
iu opposition to God's command. But if he abides

460 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

ill his calling or office, and does what this demands,
he caiiot be an evil tree. Therefore says he: Only
be careful to remain a good tree and I will warrant
you that what you do cannot be evil. For the
works that God has ordered must have the praise
that they cannot be called evil.

What better thing could we now desire than to
have this praise and testimony from Christ himself,
against all factious spirits and such as make special
claims to sanctity, that we know that we are in
such a calling in which we cannot do evil, if we
live in accordance with God's word and do what is
our duty. Yes, even if something evil should in-
tervene, if we overdo things not purposely or
wilfully, but through ignorance or weakness, this
must also be good and pardoned. In short \ou
cannot spoil it, because you are in the divine office
and word, only abide in that and it cannot be evil;
or, although it would otherwise be sin, yet it must
not be called evil, but be covered over and for-
given; so richly shall you be blessed through the
word of God. Just as a fig-tree, or other tree, al-
though it sometimes bears a worm-eaten fruit, yet
this is still a good fruit, after its kind, without
prickle or thorn ; yes, rather than have no fruit at
all, it must have fruit that is worm-eaten, yet inno-
cently so; thus all the works of a Christian are of a
good kind, because the tree is good, and he so lives
th;it he would gladly bring forth only good fruit,

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 461

*

altliougli sometimes through the weakness of the
flesh, or some other hindrance, something evil slips
in.

On the other hand, those thorn-bushes and
thistles, if they should do their best, cannot bring
forth any good fruit that may be called a good
apple or fig. And no Carthusian or barefooted
monk, if he should pray and torture himself to
death, could say a Lord's Prayer that God would
call good or do any good work; but the more he
would do, and worry himself to do good works,
the worse he would make it. For it is decided: A
thistle bears no figs, and a thorn-bush no grapes;
and in short: an evil tree cannot bring forth good
fruit. That sounds like severe and strict denun-
ciation of all self-constituted orders and callings,
that they cannot do a single good work; and on the
other hand like admirably comforting us, so that
we who live according to God's word cannot do
evil.

Thereupon he now concludes: Every v tree that
bringeth not forth good fruit is cut off and cast into
the fire. There you have the decision stated that
shall be proclaimed in regard to all who teach and
maintain their own works, aside from the word of
God, who mean to accomplish and effect it that
their cause must ever abide and think that God
must spare them, as valuable trees and plants, and
fence them in and take the bes.t care of them: but

462 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

do not perceive what a sentence has been pro-
nounced against them, so that he has already de-
tected the kind and marked it on the tree, as Clirist
elsewhere says, and that they are fit for nothing
but the fire of hell. For it stands written: Every
plant that my heavenly Father hath not planted
shall be rooted up, etc.

This he lias now spoken through comparisons,
and as in parabolis or dark words. Now he goes
further and means to explain what he meant
thereby, and he adds the right comment, with
clear, plain words, and says:

V. 21. Not every otie that, saith unto me. Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of
my Father which is hi heaven.

That is, just those who serve me, and regard
their way of worship as the very best, and are
earnestlv concerned about entering into the kinnf-
dom of heaven, and think they have it before all
others, against these I will shut heaven. That is
a terrible decision, that no one is farther down in
hell than the greatest devotees, that is the most
holy monks; as the devil also has made a proverb,
and himself made a mock of his saints, as a scoun-
drel who himself cannot conceal his villainy, so that
it is said: Hell is paved with the tonsures of priests
and monks. That is just what he says here, that
those who claim to be the orreatest saints shall not

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 463

enter the kingdom of heaven. Why? For they
say: Lord, Lord, (says he,) but they do not the will
of my Father which is in heaven. How is this?
Are they not doing the will of God, when they are
serving God night and day, and besides are working
miracles, as is presently said? What shall become
of the other o^reat crowd if these are not to be saved?
Answer: You hear very plainly that he says No to
this, and makes a distinction between saying:
Lord, Lord, and doing the will of his Father; and
he sa^'s; I do not want those who solemnly cry:
Lord, Lord, and come with their great devotion, as
if I must lift them to heaven; but those I want who
do my Father's will. They hope and presume
that they will not only get to heaven, but will also
by their merit bring others in, and will have high
seats and receive special crowns, etc ; as they con-
fidently boast: Shall not a Carthusian merit more,
and have a higher grade in heaven than a mere
layman or a married woman? Else what does he
gain in the monastery with his strict disciplines,
etc.? But it is not: Carthusians or servants of
God enter heaven, but those who do the will of
God.

For to do the will of God does not mean to put
on hoods or wear gray coats, and to run off from
the community into monasteries, etc., for the
scriptures have not a word about that; but it means
this, that Christ has preached and taught, namely,

464 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

that we believe in Christ, and be found in that call-
ing that has [the sanction of] God's word, and do
in it what he has commanded. Turn to the ten
commandments and see how St. Paul out of these
teaches those in all callings, how inferiors are to
render fidelity and obedience to superiors, the
others to love and serve each other, etc., and every
one to be faithful in his office. There you find no-
thing about priestliness or monkery, gray coats, or
other specialties. He now who lives in this way,
he does the will of God, which he has himself in-
dicated. These are fit for heaven, not those who
neglect the word of God, and yet have meant to
serve God with great earnestness and devotion, so
that they say over and over again: I^ord, Lord,
whilst the rest of us hardly say it once. For these
same persons are always busier and livelier in their
worship than the real Christians; but since they
have done their own will, they may also seek an-
other Lord who may hear them and open heaven
for them.

Therefore he means hereby to warn us again to
be careful not to be misled by these who offer such
great splendid worship (although they may even
work miracles); but be content with what he calls
good, so that everything is done in accordance with
his command, although it makes no display, nor is
pleasing to reason, because we have the test, that
no factious spirit can be content with that, nor

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 465

teacli or bring forth good fruit, but they are busied
merely with their own thoughts, spun out of their
own head. These are now the first whom Christ re-
jects, that come and make the world full of forms of
worship; as he predicted about them in Matt. xxiv.
23: For there shall arise false Christ's and false
prophets and shall say: Lo here is Christ, or there,
and shall deceive many. Then others shall come
who not only say: Lord, Lord, but also do great
wonders and signs. Concerning this he now adds:

V. 22-23. Many will say to me hi that day, Lord, Lord, have
we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name cast out devils?
and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then ivill
I profess jinto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that
work iniquity.

These are now high, excellent people, and yet
they are shamefully deceived and altogether unex-
pectedly go to hell. The others of whom he has just
been speaking, go to the same place as a genial
crowd, unless they are at the very last converted;
as I hope that,nevertheless, many of them have been
saved on their death-bed, converted from that error.
But these claim to be sure of heaven, begin to call
God to account, and say : Are we not to be saved?
Surely we have preached in thy name and done
so many wonderful works.

How can this now be, that they do wonderful
works, and besides in the name of Christ, and yet
can be counted among false Christians and damned,

466 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

wicked people? I always thought, as it is also
true, that God gives no sign or testimony to con-
firm lies, as Moses says, Dent, xviii. 20, etc.: "If
a prophet shall presume to speak in my name,
which I have not commanded him to speak — and
if thou say in thy heart, How shall we know the
word which the Lord hath spoken? When a
prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the
thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the
thing which the Lord hath not spoken." And yet
here the contrary is stated, that they do miracles in
his name, and yet are false, wicked people.

First, this may be an answer, that they were
once real Christians and truly preached and did
wonderful works, but afterwards became apostates.
For this is the very devil's [work], (against which
also St. Paul warns his Corinthians,) if a Christian
begins to feel that he is in advance of others, and
has superior understanding, wisdom, and other
gifts, so that he is self-satisfied and becomes proud,
and he turns out to be such a man as shells himself
out of the grain and nothing is left but the empty
husk; he thinks nevertheless that he is pious and
well off; as there have been many such people, and
there are still many such. For it is an extremely
dangerous thing, if God endows a man with high,
excellent gifts, that he do not become proud, but
continue humble. Thus we read about an ancient
father in the wilderness, who had a peculiar gift to

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 467

exorcise devils, and helped many people, so that all
the world ran after him and regarded him almost as
a God. Then he began to be tempted by the vain,
honor, and when he felt that, he besought God to
guard him and not let him fall into [the sin of]
pride. Then God let him be possessed and plagued
by the devil for four weeks, so that he lost all his
reputation, and everybody said: See, he helped
others, now he lies there and cannot help himself]
Thus he was rid of the temptation and remained
humble. I give this as an example, to show how
dangerous a thing it is with great, high gifts, and
how pride is always apt to attach itself to them; as
we see also in gross outward things, yes, in the
beggar's staff of temporal possessions and authority.
In short, God's gifts are so grandly noble, but we
are so befouled, that we cannot avoid becoming
proud and taking on airs if we are conscious of
them; on the other hand, of becoming desperate if
we do not have them.

That (I say) would be indeed an answer, but we
will not press it here, although it is fair. For the
principal thought is that he is here speaking of
false prophesying and wonder-working as he says
also in Matt. xxiv. 24: For there shall arise false
Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great
signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possi-
ble, they shall deceive the very elect; and St. Paul
says of Antichrist, 2 Thess ii. 9. Who will come

468 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

with all power and signs and lying wonders, and
with all deceivableness of nnrighteonsness, etc., be-
cause they received not the love of the truth, that
they might be saved; so that assuredly false mir-
acles must be performed in Christendom, and the
false Christians must regard them as real, true
miracles.

Now that has been abundantly verified in the
papacy; although in Turkey there are many of
these priests and peculiar saints. One need only
read their books and legends, especially those
written by the monks, what a hotch-potch it is,
brim-full of wonders; that are all however nothing
but lies and knavery. How have people nowadays
been fooled with so many pilgrimages to the valley
of the Grim, to Eichen, to Treves, etc., and I have
myself seen some nioiks, shameless, bad fellows
and reckless men, who nevertheless exorcised the
devil and played with him as with a child.

But who could, relate all the knavery and raising
of the devil that has been practiced under the holy
name of Christ, of Mary, of the holy cross, St.
Cyprian, etc., all of which the monks have carried
on with vigor, and all the world has fallen in with
them and no one dared peep against it. There
was no pope or bishop that would preach against
it, but all helped it along; and if any body resisted
it, he was overwhelmed and silenced with violence;
as not long ago bishop Ernst, of Saxony once

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. . 469

pulled down such a devil's chapel; but he had to
suffer for it, so that he fell sick in consequence and
was glad to rebuild it. Along with this devil-rais-
ing business there have now been started and con-
firmed purgatory, masses for the dead, and worship
of all saints, pilgrimages, monasteries, churches and
chapels. Yes, many have also prophesied about
future times, as Iviechtenberg and others; but all
this has been done by the devil, that he might en-
dorse his abominable lies, and bewitch the people
and hold them captive in error, so that no one
could escape him.

For that is a small matter for the devil, to let
himself be driven out, if he chooses, by a bad
fellow, and yet remain unexorcised; for by that
very performance he more completely possesses
and ensnares the people with the shameful decep-
tion. Thus he can also guess at what is future, as
a shrewd, experienced spirit; although he com-
monly mocks the people with his prophesying, and
juggles in such a way that one may interpret him
in various ways, and however it turns out he still
has hit it; as he used to do in ancient times by
his heathenish priests. Thus the people then are
infatuated and bounce in: O here God lives! Here
one sees and touches the miracles and signs! They
cannot reckon that the devil does it only for the
purpose of deceiving and misleading the people ;
and they do not think, the fools, that Christ

470 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

clearly foretold all this and faithfully warned us
against it through himself and his apostles. But
it had to be so, and we have been rightly served,
because we despised the word of God and did not
take into the account that we must lose Christ and
accept the miracles of the devil; and it was just
real sport for the devil, whereby he ruled with full
power in Christendom, as he sought to do.

Since we have now seen this, and alas quite too
often experienced how great harm the devil has
done through these lying spirits and false miracles,
we should be made wise and not (as those before us
have done) let the word of Christ lie and be spoken
in vain, so that it may not go with us as it went
with them. For it is a sermon, yes a prediction,
written as a warning; but alas too late for those
who lived before us; but early enough for us, if we
will only heed it, so that we do not care how they
boast of the signs and wonders that Mary and
other saints have done, and dress them up beauti-
fully wherewith to lead us away from the word;
but to be so wise, since we hear this warning that
these false miracles must occur, as not to believe in
any mere miracles.

For he faithfully and earnestly warned, as he
was speaking of these wonderful works. Matt,
xxiv. 25: *' Behold, I have told you before;" as
though he would say: Beware, and heed my warn-
ing; otherwise you will surely be misled. For you

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 47I

have my word, so that you know what is the will
of my Father. Contrast these two together. Here
you have my doctrine, which shows you how you
ought to live and act: there you see the miracles
that stand opposed to this doctrine, so that you can
decide thus: Since I see there such excellent signs,
and on the contrary have here the doctrine and the
warning besides, I will first see to it what the mir-
acles tend to, and will carefully examine whether
they really serve to strengthen my faith in the
word, namely, that Christ died for me, that I
through him may before God become pious and be
saved; then, that I may pursue my calling and
faithfully attend to the same. Thus I learn the
opposite fact, that they want thereby to strengthen
and confirm their silly notion, and teach thus: Run
to this or that saint, creep into a hood, etc., there
so many miracles and wonders daily occur, there is
such a holy order, etc. That means led away from
Christ, from my church, pulpit, baptism and sacra-
ment, that I should adhere to, also from my call-
ing and the works demanded of me.

Therefore I will not hear or know it, even though
an angel should come from heaven and awaken the
dead before my eyes. For Christ has taught and
warned me thus: Cling to my word, pulpit and
sacrament; where this is, there you will find me.
Abide there, you need not go or seek any farther;
I will not come any nearer to you than where my

472 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

gospel, baptism, office of the ministry is, through
which I enter your heart and speak with you.
Also, that he says: Be thou father or mother,
prince, master, subject, and obedient, etc., and
abide in thy calling, there thou hearest him speak,
and present in person. Why do you then still run,
as a senseless man, to stock and stone, where no
word of God is preached, and yet through the
devil's miracles open wide your eyes as though
Christ would be there where his word is not!

See, thus they should have done against the
papists, who come crowding with their custom, fa-
thers, councils, and so many wonders and miracles,
by which they want to have their matter confirmed,
and should have answered only in a few words:
Well, let us hold the two in contrast ; there I have
the word of Christ, of that I am sure, and it is most
powerfully confirmed, through all the world: and
you show me on the other hand your doctrine and
miracles, that lead one to rosaries, pilgrimages,
worship of saints, masses, monkery and other pecu-
liar self-chosen works. There is nothing about
Christ, nor faith, baptism, sacrament, obedience,
and good works which I am to do in my calling
towards my neighbor, as Christ teaches me; but
just the contrary. Therefore they cannot be true
miracles, but both the doctrine and the miracles are
a delusion of the devil.

Thus we could readily know and judge all false

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 473

miracles, and say: Miracles hither, miracles thither,
I do not care for them, though you were to raise
the dead before my eyes. For all that cau be de-
ceptive: but God's word does not deceive me. For
the devil can readily befool and bewitch the people,
so that he holds a man awhile as dead and then
lets him come to himself again, as if he were
awaked from the dead; or he can ruin one's eye or
other member and then restore it again, so that one
should think it was done by a miracle. Thus God
decrees also that truly rial miracles may occur as
the punishment of those who pay no regard to the
truth, as St. Paul says, and as a warning to others.
For there is such excessive disregard for his word
and such ingratitude, that no wrath is sufficient to
punish it; as will be the case with us again, if the
world stands long, who have sinned to such a de-
gree that it must become much worse with all
kinds of error and wonders.

For since the world absolutely will despise the
word, and not hear it, and gape after something
else: he will send it enough so that it may be led
astray into the depth of all error; as was hitherto the
case, when in all churches, monasteries, schools,
nothing else was preached and taught, all books
were stuffed full of these lying miracles, and
with no other reason than that these miracles had
occurred; as if it had not been sufficiently pre-
dicted that this should happen, and the people be

474 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

deceived thereby, so that even the elect should
hardh' be saved from the error; and those are
rightly served who so easily let themselves be mis-
led and will not heed this warning-. For he gave
the word, how we are to believe and live, and be-
sides confirmed it with miracles enongh. He means
to let that be enough, and stop there, and do noth-
ing else; but they want to get up a different new
doctrine and better callings against God's word and
the true miracles.

Therefore Christ no\v gays : I will pay no regard
to it, although they boast: Lord, have we not in
thy name done many wonderful works; but will
pronounce this sentence upon them: I never knew
you; depart from me, ye workers of iniquity, etc.
How so, dear Lord? Are not the signs and won-
ders here, so that we cannot deny it? Yes,, (he will
say,) why then have you neglected my word, con-
firmed by my miracles, and have gotten up some-
thing else of which I know nothing, and have con-
trolled the world according to your notion and
have followed that? Because then you have de-
spised my word, and have not done my Father's
will, I will also not know you or have any mercy.
They are mistaken about this now upon earth, sup-
posing that they shall be the nearest to God; but
they will find it out all too suddenly. This is now
the right meaning of this text, so that he is speak-
ing of false miracles, which the false teachers per-

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 475

form to establish their doctrine, whom he will not
know, neither with their miracles nor prophesying,
etc.

But in regard to this it is now earnestly asserted
(and I do not know if this is the proper place for
the discussion of it) that God sometimes allows real
miracles to be performed by bad people, which God
does through them; as Caiaphas, the high priest,
prophesied, John xi, 50, and Balaam, Num. xxiv.
17, who uttered the most beautiful announcement
concerning Christ, as Moses himself says, that
the Holy Ghost entered into him, and he had to
prophesy against his will, as also Caiaphas; and it
cannot be denied that also Judas, as an apostle of
Christ, did many miracles, as well as the other
apostles and disciples. What shall we say to this?
St. John himself answers, when he says concerning
Caiaphas: Because he was high-priest that year he
prophesied. For this can easily happen, that such
a person, being in public office, or a ruling person,
prophesies or works miracles and does a great deal
of good, bringing many people to God; and yet the
person himself may not be pious, and be going to
the devil. Thus, a preacher is in a public calling
and an official person, and if we look at it aright,
such a person performs the very greatest work,
miracle and wonder that happens on earth. For
through his office, word and sacrament that he
applies to you he brings you to faith, saves you

476 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

from the devil's power and from eternal death, and
leads you to heaven and eternal life; which is far
above all external signs and wonders, and yet he
may still be himself an unbelieving, bad man.

Therefore in this matter we must always look to
the word of God, and judge according to that, not
according to the person. Now you have heard
above concerning those miracles that are per-
formed in order to confirm something else than
God's word, of which there is nothing in the Scrip-
tures. But here are those miracles that relate to
something that God has spoken and confirmed.
Thus, the prophecy of the high-priest Caiaphas
announced that Christ with his death should re-
deem the world, etc. This was a true, precious
prophecy, although his motive was poisonous and
evil. Thus also the prophet Balaam, although he
was a villain, yet he predicts truly, as a prophet,
concerning God's people and Christ, and God
speaks through him. If now a preacher properly
administers his office, and in virtue of it performs
miracles, we should hear him. But if he wanted
to get off the track and go another way, to start
something else, aside from his office, he would no
longer be a true but a false prophet. Thus, also,
if the apostle Judas preached and performed mir-
acles, who belonged to the devil, as Christ says,
it was done by virtue of the apostolic office, to
establish Christ, so that thereby the people might
believe on him.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 477

In accordance with this, judge concerning all who
hold an office in Christendom. For they are not
all Christians, or pious people, who are in office
and preach. God does not ask about that; but let
the person be as it may, the office is still right and
good, and does not belong to man, but to God him-
self. Thus, Caiaphas prophesies not as Caiaphas,
a murderer and bad fellow, but as a high-priest.
So, the pastor or preacher baptizes and brings to
eternal life, not as J\Ir. John Pommer, but as a
pastor. For to honor and confirm the office God
causes this to be done. Since now Judas is in the
right public office, which Christ has appointed,
therefore the office is honored in him, not the
person.

For this is also the case in worldly affairs, as
Solomon says in Prov. xvi. 10: Divinatio in labiis
regis^ a divine sentence is in the lips of the king;
that is, everything that the authorities order, is
right, and God- confirms it. Therefore if they con-
demn criminals and punish them officially, that is
God's judgment, which he utters in heaven above
and will have executed, although it otherwise, aside
from the office, is forbidden. Thus the Scriptures
make all who are in the sacred' office prophets or
predictors, although personally they are often vil-
lains and tyrants; as Solomon again says, viii. 15:
"By me kings reign;" that is, their law and sen-
tence is my law and sentence, and all that they do

478 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

officially, if they rightly rule; and yet nevertheless
for the most part in the world there are great
scoundrels among them, that boldly make a bad
use of their position and power; yet, if they remain
in their office, and do what right demands, it is all
God's business. It is just the same, to use an
humble comparison, as when a prince or lord gives
orders to a servant, or sends forth his ambassadors,
that one hears and honors them, although they are
bad fellows: not for their own sake, but for the
sake of their lord, whose office and command they
bring with them, etc.

Since now God does this in secular affairs, much
more will he insist upon it in spiritual affairs, so
that his office and service shall be efficient and
effective. Therefore, as was said, it is a purely
miraculous event, if a pastor preaches or baptizes,
in so far as he properly administers the gospel and
baptism, whether he be pious or wicked; and if he
himself, as not being a Christian, does not have
the treasure, yet he receives it who accepts the
word and believes. If now these miracles and
wonders are effected through the ministerial office,
so that thereby souls are redeemed from sin, death
and the devil; how much more can it be done with
small, external miracles, in corporeal matters, that
do not affect the soul?

Therefore we must here also carefully distin-
guish the two things, office and person, so that we

SERMON OM THE MOUNT. 479

do not reject the office for the sake of the person;
as commonly happens, if one be pious, there are
twenty of them wicked: but we must inquire care-
fully whether the office and the miracle tend and
serve to praise and confirm the doctrine, so that
one may believe on Christ, and whether they har-
monize with what he has spoken, commanded and
established. If yon see that, then say: This ser-
mon is right, though the person may be of no
account. The miracle I will accept, but as to the
person I will not ask, etc. If that be not the case,
thou must not accept or believe it, the miracle
may be ever so great, and the person ever so holy
and excellent. Bnt here are also many bishops,
preachers, and those in other offices, who suppose
that God must regard their persons, and they are
thereby misled, as I said above. Therefore it will
be of no avail for them to boast at the last day
and say: Lord, we have surely in thy name done
wonderful works. For God did not bestow this
upon them for the sake of their person, but of their
office, and he did the works not for their sake per-
sonally, but in view of their office, to confirm it.
This is now said concerning public officials, by
whom signs and wonders are performed, some of
whom are pious, and some wicked, which neither
detracts from the office nor adds to it.

But what do you say about those who perform
miracles and prophesy and are yet not in office? as

480 luthhr's commentary on the

we read in Luke ix. of some who performed mir-
acles and yet were not Christ's disciples, so that
the apostles told Christ of it and said: Master, we
saw one who drove out devils in thy name, and we
rebuked him; for he did not follow thee. But he
answered: Do not hinder him; for he who is not
against us is for us, etc. Now that was a single
person to whom the office had not been entrusted
by Christ, and yet he says they should not hin-
der him, and he adds the reason, Mark ix. 39:
There is no man which shall do a miracle in my
name that can lightly speak evil of me. Answer:
That is true, as I have said, that God does not
allow miracles to be done by bad men, unless they
are in public oflfice; because God does not give
miracles on account of their person, but of their
office. But if real miracles are done by a single
person, that person must certainly be pious, as
some are, who have special revelations, through
dreams, visions, etc. ; but these miracles must have
the tendency to praise and further Christ and the
gospel.

Thus you have two kinds of miracles that are
good and honest, first, those which are done by
pious persons who are Christians; then also those
done by wicked persons, who yet are in office and
teach correctly; but that we are always to judge
according to this sure test, which is to be applied
to all kinds of persons, whether pious or impious,

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 481

in office or out of office, whether the miracles have
the tendency to praise Christ and to strengthen
your faith. But if )'ou discover that they are
pointing you in a different direction, as to go upon
pilgrimages, pray to saints, deliver souls from pur-
gatory, and in short, to rely upon your works and
establish a righteousness of your own; then say:
If you would perform all miracles for me, so that I
could see and make sure of them, I would still not
believe you; for Christ has sufficiently warned me
against that.

This rule God himself stated through Moses in
Dent, xiii.' 1-3: "If there arise among you a
prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a
sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come
to pass whereof he spake unto thee, saying: Let
us go after other gods which thou hast not known,
and let us serve them ; thou shalt not hearken unto
the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of
dreams, etc." There he stated also the caiLsam
/inalem. bv which one can recog-nize them and
proceed aright. If they try to persuade you to
establish a different divine worship, that is, not to
adhere to the one, pure doctrine, but to begin
something else alongside of it, then we are not to
believe, although it snows miracles. And he ex-
plains it further, and says: For the I^ord your
God proveth you to know whether you love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all
31

482 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

your soul. As though he were to say: He wants
to test you, how firmly you hold to Ihe doctrine
that has already been established and is in vogue.

In short, our orders are to accept no wonders or
miracles, however great and numerous they may
be, that are opposed to the well-established doc-
trine. For we have the command of God, who
has given it from heaven: Hear ye him, Christ
alone ye are to hear. Besides we have also this
warning, that false prophets shall come, and per-
form great miracles, but all of them lead the wrong
way, from Christ to something else. Therefore
there is no other way to avoid this than to be well-
grounded in the doctrine and keep it constantly in
view; thus we can properly judge everything ac-
cording to that, whether it is taught by the gospel
or your faith, which you repeat every day, which
declares: I believe on Christ alone, who died for
me, etc. , or whatever else it is.

Now, we have been warned enough, whoever is
willinof to heed it. But it avails nevertheless little
with the great mass, as it availed but little hereto-
fore; and I verily believe that if some one would
arise here to-day and perform only one miracle,
great crowds would fall in with it. For that is the
way of the senseless crowd, when one puts forth
something new before it and makes it stare, that it
drops everything, word and doctrine, and gapes
after that, although one should yell himself to

SERMON OX THE MOUNT. 483

death against it: as it has allowed itself heretofore
to be fooled and led by the nose with coarse, palp-
able lies and unblushing fraud, whenever a villain
has turned up and lied about a new^ relic, new pil-
grimages, etc., and it has run after these things
like crazy. This conies of the shameful overcuri-
ousness and surfeit of our flesh and blood, along
with the very devil himself, so that always the
signs and wonders, especially those that are false,
prove more attractive than even the genuine. For,
that Christ and his apostles and others have per-
formed miracles, that one does not see and regard;
but that any one drives out a devil, that beats all.
Well, he who will not take warning, and wants to
be deceived, dare not lay the blame upon us.

V. 24-27. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine,
a^iddoeth them, I will liken hiinunto a wise niati, which built his
house upon a rock; and the rain descended, and the floods came;
and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not,
for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto
a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the
raifi descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and
beat tcpon that house; and it fell: and great teas the fall of it.

That is the conclusion and the end of it, upon
which it all depends: He who not only hears this
sermon with his ears, but who does it, he is a wise
man. For the doctrine is indeed good and excel-
lent, but it is not preached in order to be heard,
but that it be applied to practical life; and especi-

484 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

ally because we are always exposed to danger from
false prophets and wonder-workers, so that we may
reflect, and accept this doctrine and warning;, since
we hear and have it, both teachers and scholars.
For if one wants to postpone it till the hour comes
when death and the devil come storming- in upon
us, with his rain-storms and tempests, then it has
been put off too long. Therefore we are not bidden
only to hear and become able, but to do and strug-
gle.

Those also hear it who say: Lord, Lord, as
heretofore the pope, bishops, and kings and all the
world have heard, and the mass-priests and monks
have daily read, sung, and intoned: but none has
done it or preached it; but they have clung to
their false worship and false miracles, and have
encouraged others to do the same. Therefore,
although they have heard much, and have also
performed miracles, yet they have not done the
will of God. For they do not continue in the doc-
trine of Christ and real good works, but they fall
back upon their own works, done without faith
and love, so that among all the monks and priests
not a single genuine work is to be found. For
they do none of them to serve or help their neigh-
bor, b::t seek only their own thereby, and thus are
entirely without faith, love and patience. There-
fore among them nothing at all is done, as Christ
says, although they hear the true doctrine; for it

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 485

takes no hold upon them, for their hearts are
nothing but mere sand.

But they nevertheless (as was said) have much
to do and to teach, even more than the true
preachers and Christians; by this too they lead the
people astray. For a hermit or a Carthusian seems
to be doing much more, with his strict spiritual
living and doing, than St. Paul or any true preacher
or Christian. For the external masks of special
works and divine worship make people stare so
that an ordinary Christian life makes no show in
comparison. Therefore' they are not lacking in
doing, teaching and believing. But here is the
difference (says Christ,) that they hear my teaching
indeed, but they will do nothing except what they
have themselves invented; on that track I cannot
keep them, so that they would do what I teach
them. If we Christians were as diligent in our
works as they are in theirs, we should be alto-
gether saints. But neither side amounts to any-
thing. We are lazy and idle; they do quite too
much, but of real works they do none at all. Thus
we still have the advantage (thank God!) that we
have begun a little to believe and love, and are
upon the right track, however slowly we move.

He closes this now with a beautiful comparison,
how it will finally be with both of these: He who
hears and practices my teaching is an excellent,
prudent builder, who does not build upon the

486 luthkr's commentary on the

sand, but seeks first a strong rock as a foundation.
If he has this, he builds upon it, so that it may
stand firm and endure. When then storms and
showers come, around and above, and waters un-
derneath (the wind meanwhile howling) seek to
soften the earth and overturn the building, it
stands against these immovable, as if to defy them
all. But he who places his building upon sand
will find that it stands only till the waters wash it
away and the wind overturns it, so that it lies
upon a heap or falls to pieces of itself.

With this comparison he nieans to warn us faith-
fully, so that we take good care to hold firmly to
his doctrine and not let Christ be taken out of our
heart as our only sure foundation and corner-
stone of our salvation, as St. Paul and St. Peter
(from Isaiah xxviii.) call him. If we stand founded
and built upon that, we will surely abide unmoved,
and can let the world and the devil, with all false
teachers and captious sp)irits pour down upon us
hail and slags, and beset and assail us with all
sorts of danger and trouble.

This confidence and security those miserable,
foolish people cannot have. For they are not stand-
ing upon the rock, that is, upon the doctrine con-
cerning Christ, but upon the drifting sand of their
own imaginings and dreams. Therefore, when
trouble comes, so that they have to struggle with
the devil and death, they feel how they have rested

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 487

their confidence upon loose sand, and their callings
and works cannot endure; as I have myself seen and
known many of these poor people, especially in
monasteries, who have deeply felt this, so that at
last they became crazy through fright and tim-
idity of conscience, and some continued in perpet-
ual despair! The reason was, that they had built
upon their own doing, devotion and good inten-
tions, and knew nothing about Christ. That was
just the kind of a structure for the devil, that
he could joyfully overturn and throw all into a
heap.

St. Bernard himself had also to feel and ac-
knowledge this, who had nevertheless led a very
strict life, with praying, fasting, bodily tnortifica-
tion, etc., so that he was deficient in no respect,
and served as an example for all others, so that I
know of no one among the monks who wrote or
lived better than he. Yet, when he came to die,
he had himself to pronounce this judgment upon
his entire holy life: O, I lived a damnable
life, and spent my life shamefully! Ah, how so,
dear St. Bernard? You were surely a pious monk
all your life. Is then chastity, obedience, your
preaching, fasting, praying, not an admirable
thing? No (says he,) it is all lost and belongs to
the devil. There comes the wind and rain, and
throws foundation, basis and building all into a
heap, so that he would have had to be eternally

488 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY' ON' THE

damned, by his own judgment, if he had not
turned about, and, made wiser by his loss, deserted
monkery, seized upon another foundation and
ching to Christ, and been kept in the faith that
the children use in their prayers, when he said:
"Although lam not worthy of eternal life, nor can
attain it by my own merit, yet my Lord Christ has
a double right to it, once as Lord and heir to it,
inherited from eternity; secondly, attained through
his suffering and death. The first he retains for
himself; the other he bestows upon me," etc.

Thus all the monks and priests, and all that
claimed to be holy, that were ever saved, had to
creep out of their hoods and all their works, and
cling to Christ; although it went very hard with
them. For it is very difficult for a man who has
spent his whole life in this self-made holiness, and
has depended upon it, to tear himself loose from it
i-n an hour and cast himself upon Christ. There-
fore he warns and exhorts us to lay hold of and
practice his teaching whilst we have the time,
before the last agonies overtake us. Thus our
dear Lord has now completed this beautiful ser-
mon. Now the evangelist states in conclusion
how the whole world had to testify that this was a
very different style of preaching from any they had
heard before, and to which they had been accus-
tomed.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 489

V. 28-29. And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these
sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught
them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Thereby the evangelist shows what kind of
preacliers and teachers the scribes had been,
namely, that [their teaching] had been a mere
cold, vain, idle babbling; that they had not urged or
insisted upon God's commands with earnestness
or energy; just as our rag-washers have hitherto
upon the pulpit been drivelling about nothing
else than purgatory, indulgences, hoods, rosaries,
lighting of candles. But he took hold quite dif-
ferently, showed what they had never heard be-
fore, the true doctrine and life, and rebuked vices
in such a way that they all felt that the man taught
with authority, and everything had life and a voice,
as if it had hands and feet, and they had to say
that this was preaching with authority, whilst
that of the others was vain, empty, yes a mere
dead wish-wash. Therefore our papists now act
shrewdly in that they are ashamed of their filthy
rags, and keep silence [in regard to those other
topics] and begin also to preach a little, after us
and our books, about faith and good works ;
although they still twist and butcher it, as not
being really in earnest about preaching right, or
having grace to be able to understand it.

There remains yet at the end one question to be
treated of, because we heard in this sermon that

490 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

Christ insisted so strenuously upon works, when
he says: The poor shall inherit the kingdom of
heaven; the merciful shall obtain mercy; also,
those shall be rewarded in heaven who suffer per-
secution for his sake; and what is said about this
at the end of the fifth chapter: If you love those
who love you, what kind ©f reward shall you have?
and in the sixth chapter concerning alms, fasting
and praying: Thy Father which seeth in secret,
shall reward you openl)-, etc, ; from which sayings
the senseless, false preachers conclude that we get
to heaven and are saved by our own working and
doing, and thereupon they build upon this their
endowments, monasteries, pilgrimages, masses,
etc.

Although, however, this question is somewhat
sharp, and belongs rather to the university, among
the learned, than to the pulpit, before ordinary,
simple-minded people; }-et, as it occurs so often in
our text, we must not overlook it altogether, but
must have something to say about it. For it is
very necessary that every one should have some
idea of the difference between grace and merit.
For the two do not accord with one another. If
one is preaching grace, he surely cannot be preach-
ing merit; and what is grace cannot be merit, else
grace would not be grace, says St. Paul in Rom.
xi. 6. There is no doubt about that. Therefore,
he who confounds these two confuses the people and
misleads both himself and those who hear him.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 49I

Well, we will ignore for the present the sharp
answer, and discuss this question in the plainest
way that we can; and in the first place we must
distinctly remember this, that there is a great dif-
ference between faith, or essential Christianity,
and its fruits, as I have often said. For, according
to the Christian name and nature one is not dif-
ferent from another; all have at once the same
treasure and the same kind of possessions. For
St. Peter has no different or better baptism than.
St. Paul, and a child born yesterday no inferior
baptism to that of John the Baptist or St. Peter
and all the apostles; thus they have also no other,
better Christ than the least Christian.

If we now look at this, there avails no merit, or
difference. For the least Christian receives just as
well the same body and blood of Christ in the
sacrament, and when he hears the gospel he hears
the \'ery same word of God that Peter and Paul
heard and preached. Also, no saint can pray
another or better pater nosier^ or pronounce and
confess a creed and ten commandments different
from those prayed daily by me and every child.
That is now so plain that every one can easily un-
derstand it; so that in what entitles us to be called
Christians there is no inequality or preference of
persons, but one is just like the other, man, woman,
young, old, learned, unlearned, noble, ignoble,
prince, peasant, master and servant, great and

492 lutiiicr's commentary on the

small saint, as there is only one kind of Christ and
creed: just as the sun in the heavens is of one
kind towards everybody, shines upon a peasant as
well as upon a king-; upon a blind man as well as
upon one who sees well; upon the sow upon the
street as upon the most beautiful woman upon
earth, and shines as readily upon a thorn as upon
a rose, upon filth as upon purple, and it is the
very same sun that shines upon the poorest beggar
as upon the greatest king or emperor.

But thereafter, if we begin to consider external
matters and what we are doing, as that I, who am
a Christian and baptized, am in addition to this
also a preacher, whilst I could be a Christian with-
out that; then the ineqiiality begins and it extends
to the various distinctions among Christians; not
as Christians, or as to the nature of Christianity,
but as to its fruits. Thus I am a preacher, that is,
such a Christian who is to present the word to the
people, to comfort the distressed, to instruct the
erring and ignorant, etc. And this one is the head
of a family or a mechanic, who is to rule his house,
attend to his business, provide for his wife and
children. There is a man, different from you and
me; yet I must say: He is just as much a Chris-
tian, and gets as much from baptism, the grace of
God and eternal life, as I and all the others, and is
no less in Christ than I; and there is here no dif-
ference between women or men, etc. Yet the

SERMOX OX THE MOUXT. 493

woman's work is different from that of the man,
that of a servant from that of his master, that of a
preacher from that of a civilian; likewise, a child
compared with its father, a scholar or disciple with
the teacher, each of them liaving his own work
or fruits; and thus everywhere ther^ is a differ-
ence in external circumstances, whilst yet all
are at the same time Christians and one accord-
ing to the inner life. For there is no more than
one Christianity and only one natural condition of
all men. That we see too in the heavens (says St.
Paul, I Cor. XV. 41,) that there are so many kinds
of stars, and differing from one another, one great,
the other small, one shining clearly, the other
dimly, and yet there is but one sun in our heavens.
In this respect they are all alike, that all stand in
one heavens and have one kind of sun; and yet
they are unlike as to size and brightness. Thus it
is also upon earth (says St. Paul, further,) not all
flesh is the same flesh, but there is one flesh of
man, another of beasts, another of birds. In the
fact that they are flesh they are all alike, and one
has his members, head, heart, stomach, etc., just
as well as the others; yet there is a great difference
between men, beasts, birds and fishes.

If now you wish to speak about a Christian, or
to depict him, you must paint him so that he is in
no wise different from others, and one must be in
all respects as the others. For you must not de-

494 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

scribe him as a man or woman, a preacher or hay-
man, prince or beggar, mechanic or Carthnsian
monk. For these distinctions have nothing to do
with him; bnt so far as his essential character is
concerned, he is jnst as good and holy as Peter and
Paul, and no one is any more and better than he.
For if St. Peter were better than I, as to the true
essentials of Christianity, he would have to have
a better Christ, gospel and baptism than I. But
because the great treasure that we have is alto-
gether one and the same, we must in this respect be
all alike and no one must be raised above the other.
It may well be that one does more and greater
things than another, as, that St. Peter raised per-
sons from the dead. But thereby, that he does
miracles which I do not, he is indeed a greater,
brighter star than I in the heavens, but not a
different kind of star, and he has no other heavens.
St. Pavil did and labored more than all the other
apostles; but he did not for this reason have a bet-
ter apostolic office, nor did he preach a different
and better Christ.

This is what we now say about merit. If we are
speaking about that which concerns the essence of
Christianity [or the Christian life] according to
which we are all equal, how we become pious be-
fore God, and attain forgiveness of sins and eternal
life, here all our merit is totally excluded, and we
must neither hear nor know anything about it

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 495

For you have not at all deserved the g-ospel, or
Christ, or baptism, but it is a pure grant, freely
given; so that our sins are gratuitously forgiven,
we become God's children and are assigned to
heaven without our doing anything towards it.

And here we contend against the abomination
of the sophists who so greatly exalt our works,
that we thereby secure a gracious God, and merit
heaven. Yes, they venture shamelessly to say
that a man even in mortal sins can do so much of
his own accord, and perform such acts of devotion
or accomplish such good works that he may thereby
allay and propitiate the wrath of God. That means
hurling the roof to the ground, quite upsetting the
foundation, building salvation upon nothing but
water, driving Christ entirely from his throne and
setting up our works instead. For it must follow
from that, that we have no need at all of baptism,
of Christ, or gospel, or faith, because even when
in mortal sin I find so much virtue and power in
me that I can extricate myself by my own works
and merit forgiveness of the same and eternal life.
From this you see that God is slandered and blas-
phemed by all that they drivel about merit, on the
subject about which we are now disputing, how
and whereby we are to attain to the grace of God
and eternal life. Yet they are not satisfied with
teaching this shameful blasphemy of God; but they
are actually fighting for it and denouncing lis as
heretics on account of it.

496 Luther's commentary ox the

This every one can now readily understand, that
one of these two must be false: either that we can-
not by our doing merit grace, or Christ with his
baptism must be of no account and nothing; and
Christ must have acted like a fool, to let himself
be martyred and shed his blood so dearly, and to
have undergone so much, in order to acquire and
bestow upon us what was not at all necessary and
wliat" we already have by ourselves. Therefore,
although they revile us as heretics on this account,
that we do not agree with them about this merit
of works, we will gladly submit to their calling us
heretics and leave the matter in the hands of God
our judge; but only the more firmly resist them
and reply to them that they are not heretics, but
the very worst blasphemers of God that the sun ever
shone upon, who most shamefully deny and curse
Christ, as Peter prophesied about them, and as the
epistle to the Hebrews says, they smite Christ on
the mouth and trample him under foot, with his
baptism, sacrament and entire gospel, and what
God has given us through him.

And I would really like to hear what they could
say to it, the miserable people: If they assert that
we by our works can begin by securing grace, and
when this is done, and so much is merited, that
we, over and above the first grace (as they call
it), merit in addition the kingdom of heaven and
eternal salvation; what does one then merit by the

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 497

other subsequent works? For I will suppose that a
papist has done his mass or other work in grace,
and has thereby merited the kingdom of heaven,
as such an excellent work that is worthy of
eternal life, wliich they call meriticiii de condigno ;
what will he then merit by the works and masses
that he does next day and afterwards in the same
grace? Then they begin, (as they do not know
what else to say,) and make esseiitiale and acci-
dentale premium^ and say: These following works
enable one to merit something additional, as a
little gift into the bargain, which God gives to us
over and above eternal life. Is this true? then I
am to understand that the first works are the best,
but the others are not so good. Otherwise they
must merit just the same; yet commonly the fol-
lowing works are accustomed to be better, because
they are now more diligently practiced.

Since now the last works do not merit the king-
dom of heaven, the first must also not merit it;
or, if they are equally good, and every work can
merit this, then God must build as many heavens
as the good works that are done; and where would
our Lord God at last get so many heavens as to
pay for every good work? Those are really smart
people, that can measure it off so smoothly and
accurately. But what shall we say? All that they
say is nothing but lies and deception, for there is
not a word of it true; first, that any one can merit
32

498 LUTHER'S COMMKXTARY ON THE

grace by any work of his own, much less if one is
lying in mortal sin; and then, although a man
were in grace b)' works (as they say), that these
works, done in grace, should be so precious as to
merit the kingdom of heaven. For there stands
Christ and asserts the contrary with clear, plain
words. Luke xvii. 10: "When ye shall have
done all those things which are commanded you,
say. We are unprofitable servants."

Therefore we ought to hold fast to our doctrine,
so that we never allow any work to put in a claim
for securing the favor and grace of God, delivering
from sin and entitling to heaven. For this, in
short, my merit is to be nothing; and if one should
want to use it in that way, I must trample it under
foot, and damn it to the devil himself in hell, as
something that would hinder my faith and lead me
to deny Christ. For here the truth stands, that
God has bestowed all this gratuitously, out of pure
grace, in that he sends his Son and lets him die for
me, and announce and give this to me, command-
ing me only to believe this and be baptzied in it.
My works have nothing to do with this, but it is a
pure gift, granted from heaven and brought to me
by Christ. Therefore let all merit in this matter
be entirely thrown away, and let us conclude that
one cannot secure grace and the forgiveness of sin
in any other way, manner or measure than by the
word of God concerninof Christ, and receivinof it bv

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 499

faith. And that God may hear us, why should we
boast of our merit, since they themselves and all
the saints must daily pray, in the Lord's prayer, as
long as we live: Forgive us our debts, etc.? And
the desperate saints dare unblushingly to say that
a man, though lying in mortal sin, can prepare
himself for grace and afterwards also merit ever-
lasting life.

But how do you account for it that there are so
many passages concerning merit and reward? To
this we reply now, for the benefit of the simple-
minded, that these are merely for a consolation to
Christians. For if you now have become a Chris-
tian, and have a gracious God and forgiveness of
sins, both of those past and of those that you are
daily committing [I say to you], that you must do
and suffer much on account of your faith and your
baptism. For the devil himself, together with the
world and the flesh, will besiege you and on every
hand torment you, as has been abundantly shown
in these three chapters, so that you may feel as if
the world was too narrow for you. Now if [our
Saviour] would allow us to be thus perplexed,
without word or consolation, we should be led to
despair and to say: Who is willing to be a Chris-
tian, preach, or do good works? He sees surely
how it goes with them, and the world tramples
upon them, reviles and abuses them, treats them
cunningly and wickedly, and finally robs them of

500 Luther's commentary on the

honor, propert}- and life itself; and he [my Saviour]
calls me nothing else than poor, distressed, hungry,
soft-hearted, peaceable, afflicted and persecuted:
is it always to be so, and never different?

Then he must talk out, encourage and comfort,
and say: You are now in grace and the children
of God ; although you must now suffer for that in
the world, do not be alarmed at that, but hold on,
and do not let yourselves be made weary or weak
whatever you may see, but let every one do just
what he should. If he suffers on tJiat account, it
will not harm him, and he may know that the
kingdom of heaven is his, and he shall be richly
repaid. Ah, how paid? Why we have it already,
through Christ, without and in advance of all our
doing. Thus, as St. Paul says, that God will
make a great, bright star out of you, and grant
you a special gift, even in this life. For a Chris-
tian can even here upon earth accomplish so much
with God through his prayers and works, that he
may spare an entire land, prevent wars, famines,
pestilence, etc. ; not that the work on account
of its worthiness is so valuable, but for this reason,
that he has promised it, for our invigoration and
consolation, so that we are not to think that our
works, plagues and misery are lost and forgotten.

Now there is here no merit, by which we are to
earn grace, or our baptism, Christ and heaven (of
which they speak when they are talking of merit);

SERMON ON THK MOUNT. 5OI

but it all refers to the fruits of Christianity. For
Christ says also (as we have seen) in this sermon
nothing about how we become Christians, but only
about the works and fruits which no one can do
unless he is already a Christian, and in grace; as
the words prove, that they must endure poverty,
misery, persecution, just for the reason that they
are Christians and have the kingdom of heaven,
etc. If we now speak of those fruits that follow
being in grace and having forgiveness of sin, we
may consent to speak of a merit and reward; but
we object to calling those works of ours the chief
good, which must be there beforehand, and with-
out which they could not be performed, or be
pleasing to God. If now we only insist upon this
point, that there is no merit but only pure grace
[by which we are saved], then we will not object to
giving the name to the fruits that follow; but, so
that one does not falsely pervert those passages,
and refer them contrary to the Scriptures to our
meriting grace, but interprets them properly, as
intended, to comfort Christians, especially amid
suffering and hostility, when one feels and it seems
as if our life, suffering and doing, were in vain and
accomplishing nothing; as the Scriptures every-
where console, where they exhort to perseverance
in good works, as in Jer. xxxi. 16: Est merces
operi tuo^ thy work is not in vain; also, St. Paul,
in I Cor, xv, 58: Labor vester nojt est inanzs in

502 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

domino^ your labor is not in vain in the Lord. For,
if we had not this consolation, we could not endure
this wretchedness, persecution and misery, that we
should do so much good, and let our teaching and
preaching be rewarded with sheer ingratitude and
disgrace; and would have at last to cease from
doing and suffering what was plainly our duty.
But God means to arouse and confirm us by this
beautiful promise, so that we pay no regard to the
ingratitude, hatred, envy and contempt of the
world, but regard him who says: "I am thy God.
If the world will not thank you, and robs you of
honor, property, and even of life on that account,
then cling to me and take comfort from this, that I
have a heaven, and so much in it that I can easily
recompense you, and ten times more than can now
be taken from you;" so that we can have this answer
for the world: Well, if it will not treat us with
favor, let it go along with its favor, and all that it
has; I did not begin anything on its account, and
I will henceforth neither do nor omit anything on
its account. But I will do and suffer everything
for his sake who gives me such rich promises, and
says: Although you have already, aside from this,
all treasure in heaven through Christ, and more
than enough; yet I will give you still more, as
additional, so that you shall have the kingdom of
heaven fully revealed, and you shall visibly behold
Christ in everlasting glory and joy, (whom you

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 503

now have in faith), so much the more as you now
suffer and labor.

Here are applicable the charming passages and
exhortations, such as Heb. x. 35 : Magnum habetis
retnujterationem^ etc. Cast not away, therefore,
your confidence, which hath great recompense of
reward; and Christ, in Matt. xix. 29: "And every
one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sis-
ters, or father or mother, or wife, or children, or
lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundred-
fold, and shall inherit everlasting life." Thus he
speaks also here: Merces vestra magna est in coelo^
you shall be well rewarded in heaven; by which
he shows that they already have the kingdom of
heaven, and yet shall have it so much the more
glorious when it now is revealed.

See, if we turn these passages in this direction,
they are rightly used, so that they have no refer-
ence to our confiding in our works contrary to
faith, but to the consolation of Christians and be-
lievers; and if the sophists had aimed their talk
about merit in this directiou, it would have been
all right. But they based their own work-holiness
and monkery upon it, so that God should thereby
regard them as peculiar saints, and sell heaven for
these, and should give them the highest seats, as
those with whom common Christians were not to
be compared; and they acted indeed not unwisely
in the matter, for that did not bring poverty, mis-

504 LUTHER'S COMMENTARY ON THE

ery, mourning, persecution, but money, property,
honor, and no order was established for the pur-
pose of using in it the word of Christ, sacrament,
faith, love and patience; but only with their hoods,
and rigid, peculiar mode of living, they want to
be highly esteemed and exalted before God, as
those who need no Christ or faith.

In this way now we admit that Christians have
merit and reward with God; not for the purpose
of becoming children of God and heirs of eternal
life; but for the consolation of believers who
already have this, that they may know that he
will not let that be unrewarded that they suffer
here for Christ's sake; but, if they suffer and labor
much, then he will specially adorn them at the
last day, more and more gloriously than others, as
stars especially great in comparison with others.
Thus St. Paul will shine forth bright and clear
•above others most splendidly. That does not mean
forgiveness of sins, or meriting heaven, but com-
pensation for suffering with so much the greater
glory.

But we will not suffer the matter to stand where
they put it; for that is to slander and blaspheme
Christ, God and the Holy Ghost, and everything
that God has given us by them, and we would rather
be denounced as heretics and scoundrels, and be
burned with fire, than give up or deny this treasure:
but we will also insist upon this consolation even

SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 505

if we must suffer for it all trouble, shame and
persecution. For this will be the result at any
rate. The devil will not agree to this, or accord
with us; but means to maintain the pope's doc-
trine and bring us to believe as he believes; and
as he sees that we won't do it, he lays himself out
against us with all his might. For he knows very
well, if this point is settled, that Christ and the
forgiveness of sins are a perfectly free gift, that
any one can count it off on his fingers and con-
clude that the papacy with its masses, monkery,
purgatory, worship of saints, etc., must be nothing,
and all will fall to pieces of its own accord.

Now learn to answer in this way about those
passages that refer to merit and reward. I hear
indeed that Christ says: Blessed are the poor, for
they shall have the kingdom of heaven; and.
Blessed are ye when ye suffer persecution for my
sake; for great is your reward in heaven, etc. But
he does not thereby teach me to rest my salvation
upon that, but gives me a promise that is to be a
comfort to me in my sufferings and in my Chris-
tian life. You must not confound these things for
me and mix the two together, nor make my merit
out of that which God gives me in Christ through
baptism and the gospel. For we are not here told
that we can merit that, and that we need no Christ
and baptism for it; but that those who are Christ's
disciples, to whom he has here preached, and who

5o6 Luther's commentary.

must nnderoo all manner of suffering for liis sake,
may know how they are to comfort themselves, be-
cause they have a hard time of it on earth, namely,
that they because of this shall have everything so
much the more abundantly in heaven; and he who
does and suifers the most shall be so much the
more gloriously recompensed.

For although (as I said) in Christ all are alike,
and grace is bestowed equally upon all, and brings
full salvation to every one, as the highest, most
common possession, so that he who has Christ has
all: yet there will be a difference in the bright-
ness and the glory with which we shall be adorned
and shine; just as in this life there is a difference
in the gifts, so that one labors and suffers more
than another; but in that life it will all be mani-
fest, so that all the world shall see what each
one has done, and shall have so much the greater
glory, at which the whole heavenly host will re-
joice. Let this be enough about that.

God preserve us in his grace, revealed in Christ.
Amen.

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